The Love of the Uchiha
by Siriivy
Summary: This is the story of the girl both Uchichas fell in love with. This is the story of a girl. A girl who survived even when there was no hope. A girl who never gave up, even when everyone else would have. A girls who refused to give up hope. Sorry, I'm horrible at summaries. I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! This is rated Mature just to be safe. PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

The Love of the Uchiha

Chapter One

Okay, before we begin this story, there are some things that I feel you need to know about me. First off, I'm not your average ninja. I have two kekkei genkai. I also come from the most highly esteemed clan in the Hidden Mist, the Achi clan

The females of the Achi clan possess an optical kekkei genkai called the Hikitsugan. The Hikitsugan has the same observatory prowess as the Byakugan, and makes the use of genjutsu easier and take less chakra and concentration. But what makes the Hikitsugan truly and uniquely fantastic is its last ability. When fully activated, the Hikitsugan causes the target to develop a deep infatuation with the owner of the Hikitsugan, some may describe it as love, causing the target to be unable to attack. At that point, the owner has complete control of the target and can speak to them telepathically, and can make them do whatever they desire.

My father was not from the Hidden Mist. Where he was from, he always refused to tell me and my sisters. All we knew about his past and family is his kekkei genkai, Onkyo Seigyo, Sound Control; complete control over sound waves. To manipulate sound waves, to change them, to move them, to make them almost solid. Father was a master and was my teacher.

My Hikitsugan was obvious from birth. Green eyes that became completely green whever the owner is using chakra, which makes it impossible to tell when the owner is using the abilities. So, it was assumed that I was just like the rest of the females in my clan. But at the age of one, I started changing and distorting the sounds around me. My parents freaked out. I had two kekkei genkai. I was a freak. I was a genius. I was to be trained to become the strongest ninja of all time, and the next Mizukage.

My training began with healing. Understandable, since my clan is made mostly of healers. Achi warriors are rare because the Achi are the best healers in the Hidden Mist. Our eyes see more than others, making seeing illness and injuries easy. I quickly grew bored of medicine, so my teachers decided to train me as a combat ninja. I had three teachers; my normal sensei with my team taught me my water style, my aunt taught me my Hikitsugan, and my father taught me my Onkyo Seigyo. I excelled at everything.

I graduated the academy and became a Genin at age eight. I became a Chunin at age ten. I would have become Chunin earlier, but my sensei decided my teammates were not ready when I was nine.

Now that you have my backround, let's begin the story. I was expected to become Jonin at age 13, and to become the youngest Jonin in history. Kakashi Hatake of the Hidden Leaf, the copy ninja, holds the record at 14 and a half. Today is my 14th birthday. I just finished my exam and earned my certification as Jonin. That's still beating the record, right?

"Ariya! How did it go?" Katara Sensei called as I walked out if the building. I held up the certificate. "Of course! Never failed anything in your life. I'm proud of you! Youngest Jonin in history!"

I smiled up at her. I really likes Katara Sensei. She was patient and understanding, but also strict when she needed to be. "I will meet you at the training field at three. I have to go show my family."

"Deal. I will go tell your teammates." She gave me a pat on the back and walked away. I walked the rest of the way home, nervous about how my family was going to react.

I stopped at my front door. _I'm not ready for this. _I mentally slapped myself. _Suck it up and get in there! _I took a deep breath and opened the door.

All I saw were two fuzzy balls flying towards me, one black and one blond, before I was tackled to the ground in a squeezing hug.

"Oh my god! Congratulations!" My older sister, Nira, yelled, her short black hair tickling my nose, causing me to sneeze. "You're so awesome!" screamed my younger sister, Hana, her long blond hair wrapped around my neck, slowly strangling me.

"Can't...breathe..." I somehow managed to get out. They both giggled then released me, then proceeded to pull me up to stand in front of them.

"I'm sorry, but father couldn't be here. He was assigned an S ranked mission that he could not turn down. He left you this note," said Hana, always the more responsible of the two. I took the note and read it:

**Ariya,**

**Congratulations on becoming Jonin. You have made me proud to be your father. Always remember, do not play with your food. Eat quickly.**

**Your father,**

**Hajima**

I winced as I read his favorite metaphor. How could I forget? He reminded me every day in training. That was all he had to say at my Chunin exams. "Good fight, but you must not play with your food. Eat it quickly." I am very small and my opponent was very strong, and therefore, even though I was working my hardest, the fight took 5 minutes. Father was disappointed.

Nira and Hana were both practically hopping up and down from excitment. "What was it like?" "What happened?" "Was it hard?" Even though Nira was two years my senior, she had lost the use of her left eye during her Chunin exams. Even though she passed the exam, her sensei refused to allow her to advance to Jonin. Hana, three years my junior, was taking her Chunin exams this year, at age eleven.

"You both know I can't tell you anything."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeease!"

"I'll get in trouble! Possibly arrested!"

They hung their heads, turned, and walked to their rooms, dragging their feet sadly. I walked into the kitchen where my mother and grandmother were sitting at the kitchen table opposite each other, talking quietly.


	2. Chapter 2

The Love of the Uchiha

Chapter 2

"Mother, Nana, look, I am a Jonin now!" I said, the excitment evident in my voice. I was expecting them to smile, tell me congratulations, to show overwhelming happiness. Or at the very least, I was expecting them to have a reaction.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was as if I had never even walked into the room. They didn't move an inch. Mother and grandmother continued their conversation, not even acknowledging the fact that I was standing right in front of them. I felt my happiness start to slowly drain away, my smile sliding off my face.

"Mother? Nana? Is something wrong?" Still nothing. "Did I do something wrong? Did something happen?" Usually, it was father ignoring me, and that only happened when I messed up really badly in training. He would ignore me until I found a way to fix what I had done wrong. Mother was usually hard on us, but she would never punish us by ignoring us. She was only hard on us because we have the Achi name to uphold. Grandmother was always harsh and always full of criticism, but she would much rather insult us than ignore us. "Mother? Nana?"

"RiRi? May I speak with you?" I heard a soft voice say behind me. I turned to see my Aunt Seria nervously waiting in the hallway that lead to my bedroom. Mother and grandmother turned around to glare at her and she blushed and looked down. "Of course Seria Sensei." I gave her a bow and followed her into my room, shooting my mother and grandmother a disapproving look over my shoulder.

Seria was assigned as my individual Hikitsugan sensei. She always tried to be as tough as the rest of our clan, but she was too kind hearted. That aside, she still never called me RiRi unless something was wrong. Only my family and teachers were allowed to call me by my full name, and Seria was no exception. To everyone else, I was RiRi.

"What is wrong, Seria Sensei? Why are Mother and Nana ignoring me? Did something happen?" I knew Seria would never lie to me. She was my mother's youngest sister and was her junior by 12 years. She was the runt and was often ignored and forgotten by our clan. She was my complete opposite. She was my best friend.

"Your mother requested that I not speak to you, but I could not do that to you."

Then it clicked. "I am being shunned."

"Yes."

"For not becoming Jonin earlier."

"Yes."

I looked down, fighting to hold back tears as my heart began to hurt. "I still broke the record. I thought that would be enough."

"Your grandmother left you this note." She handed me a note that was written on official looking paper.

**Ariya,**

**Two things were expected of you. Only two. The first was to become Jonin at age 13, breaking the record, and making history as the youngest Jonin by a year. The second was to become Mizukage. How could we ever trust you to complete your second task if you cannot complete your first, much easier task? You have shamed the Achi name and are henceforth disowned.**

**Achi Clan Leader,**

**Arima Achi**

I couldn't believe it. I could feel my whole world crashing down around me. I could see my future disappearing right before my eyes, and I couldn't reach forward and grab it. I looked up at Seria, fighting to wipe my face of all the emotions that were racing through me. I started to turn away, but she stopped me by hugging me from the back and holding me still. "Come live with me, RiRi." she begged.

"No. I am sorry, but Father would never allow it."

"You are a Jonin now. You are an adult. You can make your own decisions and do what you please."

"I know, but I don't want to start any more conflict, and I refuse to hurt Nira and Hana like that. Thank you for the offer though." I turned in her arms a bit and gave her the most sincere smile I could manage.

She turned me around the rest of the way and kissed my forehead. "Just remember that I am always here for you. Please never hesitate to come to me for anything, alright?"

"Of course Sensei."

"No. I am no longer your Sensei. You have learned everything I have to teach you. You have surpassed me. You are a splendid ninja. I love you." With that, she released me and left.

I sat down on my bed. My mind felt numb. All that training. All my hard work. All the sacrifice. Thrown away in less than one day. I closed my eyes, and the tears started to fall. _Grandmother, why is our clan so screwed up?_ I opened my eyes and looked at my clock. It was 2:30. I decided it was time to start heading for the training field. I pulled myself together, gathered my gear and left my room.

I stopped by my sisters' rooms to say bye. Both were in Hana's room, sitting on the bed, looking at a magazine. "Hey you two, I'm heading to the training field. I'll see you when I get back." Before I could turn to leave, my sisters looked up at me. "Sissy, why aren't we allowed to talk to you?" asked Hana, tears running down her cheeks.

I felt my heart collapse in my chest. I turned away and ran. I ran out the door, out of the house, through the streets, all the way to the training field, trying to run away from the pain coursing through me. By the time I got to the training field, I was in hysterics.

Katara Sensei was already there, as she had promised. She was sitting in the middle of the field on what appeared to be a blanket with a basket next to her. Luckily, I saw that my teammates had not yet arrived.

She looked up as I approached her. "Ariya?"she asked, and I could tell that she knew something was wrong by the look on her face. She had just stood up to meet me when she flew back from my punch.

"Why?" That was all she asked as she climbed back to her feet.

"You! YOU are the reason my family hates me!" I screamed.

"What?"

"I was ready to be a Jonin a year ago!"

"No. You were not ready." she said calmly.

"I was ready! I would have passed and I would have become Mizukage and my family wouldn't hate me!" I insisted.

"What are you talking about?"

I handed her my grandmother's note. She read it overs three times, slowly. She closed her eyes and looked down. "Ariya-"

"You don't understand! The Achi clan doesn't care about their men! It doesn't matter if they screw up! But the women CAN NEVER mess up! They can't! Especially not me..." I could hear the pain in my voice.

"Ariya, you weren't ready-"

"Yes I was!" I screamed again.

"Ariya Achi, you stop interrupting me and let me finish!" Her yell suprised me into silence. "I am still your sensei and your senpai! I know when you are ready to advance and when you are not. You would not have passed and become Jonin before now, and especially not a year ago. There is no way they would have passed you. You would have failed and you would have shamed your clan worse. You know they take failure worse than anything else. I allowed you to sign up a week before your 14th birthday. It is not my fault that today was the first opening."

I looked down, feeling ashamed of my outburst. "I'm sorry Sensei. Please forgive me."

"I understand your anger. You are in pain. You are forgiven." Her voice was gentle.

"How am I supposed to move past this?"

"You will move past this. I have faith in you. I will help. For starters, we can start by eating this lunch I made to congratulate you. Let's enjoy this moment before your teammates come."


	3. Chapter 3

The Love of the Uchiha

Chapter 3

"Let us walk you home." My teammates, Hiku and Kiru, were standing in front of me.

"No thanks you guys. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," I replied.

"Alright, but if anything happens..." Hiku started.

"You come get us," Kiru finished.

"You know I will," I smiled at them. Hiku and Kiru were identicle twins who were 2 years my senior with fiery red hair just like mine. The reason they were put on the same team was that their abilities were perfect opposites and they worked so well together. Hiku was earth style while Kiru was wind. They were like my brothers. Ever since we had been teamed up together, they had become some of my closest friends. Despite how different we were, they seemed to understand everything I went through, and they were always there to support me.

As I walked home, I tried to block out the negative thoughts. Sure, my clan may hate me, but I was still a powerful ninja and I had been going through training to become Mizukage. That had to count for something. The village leaders would probably think differently than my clan, and would still train me so. My dreams could still become reality, and my father's dream come to fruition.

The entire way home, I felt eyes following me, but every time I turned, there was nobody there. I continued to speed up, eventually running the rest of the way. I burst through my front door and sped to my room, collapsing on my bed. I couldn't stop the shaking as it began to rack through my body. The tears started falling as I recalled the events of that day. I cried myself to sleep that night.

I woke the next morning to yelling coming from the kitchen. I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes, confused and kind of scared. I had never heard yelling in our house. Ever. We were trained to bottle up our anger, to hone it, and to release and use it to our advantage on the battlefield. Despite the Achis being mainly healers, we excelled in battle in order to defend ourselves and others, making it impossible to injure us. Due to this, we were expected to remain calm and collected at home. I could tell the voices were my mother and father, but due to the fact that my room was the farthest from the kitchen, I could not understand what they were saying. I snuck out of my room and made my way to Nira's room, using my training to be silent. I opened Nira's door and saw Hana huddled in Nira's arms, crying. Nira looked up at me as I closed the door and extended an arm to me. I crawled onto the bed and cuddled up to her. It was a small bit of comfort. I had not been held in the arms of my big sister since I was small. I wrapped an arm around Hana, and we all snuggled closer together.

I could now hear my parents' words. "She has been disowned! We cannot allow her to continue living here!" I heard my mother yell.

"She is our daughter! She will stay here with us!" my father screamed back.

"My mother has decided she cannot remain here after shaming the Achi name as he has! She is the clan leader! Imagine the oldest daughter of the leader of the clan harboring a shunned clan member! She has the clan's best interests in mind!"

"Do you hear yourself?! This is our DAUGHTER we are talking about! Not some horrible fugitive! I don't give a shit what your mother says! I am her father, and she will remain with me!"

"Then you can leave with her!" mother yelled and I heard her storm out the front door.

My sisters and I froze. I had never heard my father stick up for me like that. It was shocking. I thought he disliked me. I felt oddly safe after hearing his words. We slowly released each other. Nira and Hana looked at me with sadness in their eyes. "I should go," I said.

"We love you," said Hana.

"I know. I love you too."

I snuck back to my room in the same fashion as before. I dressed in my most comfortable mission gear and left. As I walked to Command, I could feel eyes on my back once again. But like before, when I turned around, nobody was there.

When I got to command, I was greeted by a kind looking woman with short blue hair who identified herself as Ryuo. She gave me a tour of the building and showed me to my locker. "We are glad to have you," she said to me as she left. I opened my locker and found a standard-issue Jonin vest. I put it on, feeling pride surge through me. The door behind me opened and I turned. I froze in shock. The Mizukage and his assistants were walking straight towards me, and stopped in front of me. The Mizukage, Yagura was his name, smiled at me. "Hello Ariya, I have come to personally congratulate you and give you your first mission," he said cheerfully. My eyes widened as I looked down at the paper he was holding out to me. I slowly took it from him. "Already?" I asked.

"There is no better way to begin a new position than to start with a mission, as my grandfather used to say," Yagura said with a laugh. "It is a bit harder than we would usually assign to a brand new Jonin, but I have faith in you."

I bowed. "Thanks you so much," I whispered respectfully.

"You are very welcome. Your partner will be Harou Shimada. He is very eager to meet you. He will meet you at the training field in an hour."

"Yes sir, I will be there."

"Good. You have a nice day and good luck." For some reason I got the impression he wasn't just talking about my mission. He gave me a smile and waved goodbye as he walked out, his assistants behind him.

I sat down in the chair closest to my locker and read my mission. Harou Shimada and I would be finding a scroll that the Hidden Rain village had stolen from us. Due to the fact that it was unkown if the scroll had yet arrived at the village, or if it was still traveling, it was an A rank mission. It should take four days at the most. I could feel the excitement bubbling up inside me. I loved missions. I loved the freedom of being outside the village and the teamwork required to complete the task. Now that I was a Jonin, I would be able to go on even more missions. I smiled to myself and left for the training field, stopping at the cafeteria to pick up lunch for Harou and I.

When I got to the training field, I saw a tall man with brown hair and scars up his arms and a long one along his left cheek. _Wow, _I thought. _He must have a lot of experience!_

"You must be Harou Shimada," I said as I walked up.

"That I am. You must be Ariya Achi."

"That's me." I was suprised at how nice he seemed. I pulled out the lunch I'd brought. "I brought us lunch. I hate training on an empty stomach."

He gave me a kind smile. "Thank you." We sat down and took out the food. "So you come from the Achi clan," he said.

"Yes I do."

"So you're a healer."

"No. I have been trained in healing, but it bores me."

"Wow. I can't say I've ever met an Achi warrior. I'm even more excited to train with you now."

"What about you?"

"I'm water and earth style. I like to fight with mud. Trap my enemies."

"That sounds like an effective techique."

"I find it to be. Hey are you Hajima's kid?"

"Yes."

"Are you the one who inherited his sound control?

"Yes."

His eyes widened. "Wow, I can't believe I get to pair up with you. I've heard great things about you. Your father is a great ninja, and you should know that he's so proud of you. He talks about you all the time."

"He does?"

"Yes. He brags about your achievements and he was so excited when you became a Jonin."

I was shocked. Father was always so distant and he always acted like he was diappointed with everything I did. I guess I was silent for a long time because Harou cleared his throat. I looked up.

"We should probably start training now that we're done. We need to get familiar with each other's fighting styles if we're going to be effective as a team."

"Yep. Let's go!" I said with a smirk.

Three hours later, we were both exhausted. "That was intense!" I said, out of breath.

"Well, I can tell we are going to be a great team. Go home, get some sleep. I will meet you by the front gates at midnight."

"Agreed."

I was exhausted as I walked home. I was running through a list in my head about what I needed to pack for my mission when a man pushed me roughly to the ground as he ran past. Unfortunately, I was used to this. Being 4' 10" was great on a mission when you needed to go unnoticed or needed to be fast, but it sucked when people didn't see you walking down the street, or when you got lost in a crowd. I walked the rest of the way home nursing a bruise on my hip. When I got home, I fell into my bed immediantly, but sat up right away. I pulled a folded piece of paper from the back of my waistband. _I didn't put that there. _I opened the paper and saw it was a note.

**We know. Come with us. We will protect you.**

I stared at the note, confused. Know what? I looked up and saw the picture of my family hanging on my was and I could hear my mother's words from this morning; _She has been disowned! We cannot allow her to continue living here! _That's what the note meant. That my family planned to kick me out. But whoever wrote the note was unaware that my father would never allow that to happen. Who wrote the note anyways? And how did they know the private affairs of the Achi clan?


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there readers, just a heads up, I worked out the Naruto timeline, and I worked it out that Ariya is one year younger than Itachi. Hope that clears up any confusion.**

The Love of the Uchiha

Chapter 4

A week later, Harou and I were walking back through the front gates with the scroll in my bag. Harou was limping as I supported part of his weight. Our mission had been going perfectly the whole way to the Hidden Rain village and up until we got the scroll. But as we escaped, an enemy threw a shuriken that embedded itself into Harou's ankle, severing important tendons and making movement of the foot impossible. I was able to get him away and start the healing, but we had to stop in the nearest village to wait for him to heal enough to continue. Then, the day we left, we were attacked by retaliating Rain ninja, causing us to move from hiding spot to hiding spot the rest of the way home. Because of all this, our mission took an extra three days.

As I half carried Harou back to command, a man came out from an alley between buildings in front of us. As we got closer, I saw he didn't look much older than me. His hair was black, as were his eyes, under which he had deep lines making him look like he hadn't slept in days. He was wearing normal street clothes from our village, but I had a feeling he wasn't from around here. He was actually very handsome. I felt like I could loose myself in those eyes. Those gorgous eyes... His face was angular in a very appealing was, and I found myself staring at his soft-looking lips. I wondered what it would feel like to kiss those perfect lips and run my hands through that silky hair.

Harou stumbled as his foot hit a rock, and the jerk was enough to snap me out of my trance. _What the hell is wrong with me? _I yelled in my head. I had never had a crush, I'd never cared much for boys, and here I was practically drooling over one I had just laid eyes on. _Grow up! _I saw the man smirk, and I felt oddly vulnerable as if he knew what I was thinking. We stopped as we got to him, and he gave a warm smile that caught me off guard after the smirk.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay Ariya. You had me worried."

His voice caused a warm melting sensation to spread through my body, and my legs to turn to jelly, almost causing me to fall over. He spoke in a smooth, flawless baritone that was just plain... sexy. I froze. _Did I really just think that? _It was undeniable, however. His voice was damn sexy.

Harou shook me a little. "Ariya, are you alright? You look like you're about to faint."

I slapped myself mentally. "Oh yes, I'm sorry. I'm fine." I processed what the man had just said. "Wait, do I know you?"

He chuckled lightly, causing the warm sensations to spread through my body once more. "No," he said simply. He turned and went back down the alley he had come from.

I sat Harou down and raced around the corner. "Wait!" I yelled. But he was already gone. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. It was almost like I'd lost a loved one. I struggled to hold back tears as I walked back to Harou.

"Ariya, are you sure you're alright? You look like someone just died."

"Um, I think so. I just... do you know who that man was?"

"No, I have no idea. But he appeared to know you."

I helped him back up and we continued to command. I couldn't stop thinking about that man. How did he make me feel like that? What was the emotion in his eyes? Those eyes. Those dark, endless eyes that just begged to be read like a book. Those lips. Those soft, plump pink lips that begged to be kissed. Ug, what was happening to me?

We finally reached command and sat down to fill out our reports. Harou turned to me. "Ariya-"

"How many times must I ask you not to call me that? It's RiRi."

"Sorry. RiRi, I have a bad feeling in my gut. Please be careful. I don't know why, but I feel like something bad is going to happen. Take care of yourself."

"Of course Harou. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine." I smiled at him and we both went back to finishing our reports. I looked up as I felt an arm around my shoulders. It was my father. He gave me a rare smile. "How did your mission go? Did she behave Harou?"

"Yes. She actually saved my life. This is one quick girl you've got. I would be dead if it wasn't for her."

Father smiled at me again. "Good job Ariya."

"Thank you Father."

"May I speak with you in private?"

"Of course."

He kept his arm around my shoulders as we went into the hallway. He closed the door behind us. "Stay here." He walked down the hall a bit and looked around to make sure we were alone, then walked back to me." Why did you get home so late?"

"Haoru got injured and we had to stop for him to rest and heal. We were hiding from Rain ninja the rest of the way."

"Ah, I see."

"I'm sorry. I didn't anticipate it taking so long."

"It's fine. What you did is understandable."

I bowed. "Thank you. Is this what you wished to speak with me about?"

"No. I needed to tell you that I am traveling to the Hidden Sand tonight. I wish for you to go with me."

"Are you going for a mission?"

"Not exactly."

"Then how come you're traveling to the Hidden Sand?"

"Well, um... I... just... you see..." I had never seen my father so flustered. His face was turned red from embarrassment. He looked like he was about to cry.

"Father, you can tell me."

"I... your mother wants us... that is, me and her... um... to have a sort of break..." I had no idea my father's face could turn so red.

"She's kicking you out?"

"That's not what I said..."

"That's what it sounds like."

"Um... well ya, I guess... that's kind of what is happening..."

My jaw dropped. "What? How? Why?"

"Well, when I defended you, your grandmother decided I was no longer worthy of being married to her oldest daughter... You know how much your mother listens to your grandmother..."

"No. You can't leave..."

"I must, or the clan will make me."

I felt tears start to fall from my eyes. "But father-"

"Ariya, please come with me."

"Father, you know I can't do that. Nira and Hana need me."

"They are strong-"

"And I am to become the next Mizukage."

"Ariya-"

"Why the Hidden Sand anyways? It's so far. What is there that is so important?"

"I have... um... family... in the Hidden Sand."

I froze. Father never spoke of his family.

"I just hope they will accept me back..." I heard him whisper as he looked down.

"Father, you go to the Hidden Sand. I will stay here. I can stay with Aunt Seria."

He looked up at me, tears running down his cheeks. "I hope, for your sake, that they are more forgiving towards you. I must go. Please take care of yourself. I love you."

My heart skipped a beat. "I love you too," I said to my father for the very first time in my life. He leaned down to kiss my forehead, and he was gone.

I left command in a haze. I stumbled through the streets, not noticing where I was going until I ran into a soft and very warm wall. I almost fell backwards, but strong arms caught me, and I looked up. It was those eyes. Those dark, endless eyes. "Going somewhere?" he asked.

"Um... well I think I was going home..."

"Your house is the other way."

"Uh... ya. Sorry. I'm just a bit confused at the moment."

He chuckled and turned me around and pushed me forward.

"Wait, how do you know where I live?" I turned back, but he was gone.

"We'll talk later," whispered his voice in my ear, his breath tickling my neck. I froze as shivers went down my spine. God he smelled good. I turned, but he was gone again. I walked the rest of the way home, with this mysterious man on my mind.

As I walked through my front door, I saw bags piled up right inside. I peeked inside the first one and stumbled backwards in shock when I saw it was filled with my things. I thought I had more time. Hana came around the corner.

"Hana, what-"

"Get out."

"What?"

"You heard me. Get out." I deadpanned. "You cause mother and father to fight and because of you, father is leaving us. Then you worry us to death when you don't come home when you were supposed to. Then you still have the audacity to come back?! GET OUT!"

I picked up up the bags and stumbled out the door in shock.

"And don't come back!"

I walked through the streets towards Seria's house, trying to figure out how to word my dilemma when I begged her to take me in. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain as a blunt object connected with the back of my skull and I blacked out.


	5. Chapter 5

The Love of the Uchiha

Chapter 5

I awoke to a painful crash against my side. I heard two men yelling at each other somewhere above me, but the voices were oddly muffled. It was pitch black and it was hard to breath. All I could recognize was the smell of the forest around me. My whole body felt like it was being crushed. My knees were pressed to my chest and I realized I was in a sack. I started kicking at the fabric in an attempt to rip it open, and screaming at the top of my lungs, praying that someone would hear me. I hadn't noticed that we had been moving until the person carrying me came to a stop. I heard a man's voice right by my head say, "Hey now, none of that. I really don't want to hurt you." A shiver ran down my spine. The voice was very creepy, sounding somewhat like a hiss. I could hear the sick pleasure in his voice and I knew without a doubt that this man was to be feared. I screamed louder and started thrashing harder. Through my screams, I heard the man chuckle and pain shot through my head as something hard connected with my skull and I blacked out again.

When I came to again, I awoke to the sensation of being put down on the ground. The smell of the forest was gone, and was replaced with a damp and musky smell. The floor under me was hard and extremely cold. I could only guess it was concrete. The cold leaked through the fabric of the sack and through my pants to chill my skin, causing me to shiver. I was terrified. A sick feeling was settling in my stomach as I imagined what was going to happen once the sack around me fell. Then I heard that creepy voice.

"Here she is." I felt the hand that held the sack closed release, and the fabric fell from around me. I squinted and covered my eyes as a bright light assulted them. I noticed that my waist length hair had fallen out of it's regular braided bun. A hand grabbed my hair and pulled me up, forcing me to stand. "OW!" I yelled, trying my best to hold back the tears that were trying to force their way out at the pain.

"Look at me," a cold, deep, emotionless voice said.

I looked up into ringed purple eyes. I froze. I remembered those eyes from my studies. The Rinnegan. It was rumored that the Rinnegan was the most evolved version of the Sharingan. If the rumors were true, this man could put me in a genjutsu with ease, and I would be powerless to resist. We sat there for a second. Why wasn't he putting me in a genjutsu? He set me down on my feet, and I searched the rest of his face. He had bright orange hair that stood up in every direction. He had multiple piercings along his nose, on his bottom lip, and along the sides of his ears, as well as a bar going through each ear. I winced inwardly at the thought of all those piercings being done. He was more than a foot taller than me, making me feel like a mouse standing next to a great dane. His headband identified him as a rouge ninja from the village hidden in the rain. _Fuck, _I thought. _This is about that mission. Harou is probably here somewhere. _

"I'm sorry," I said, "We were ordered to take that scroll back by the Mizukage himself. We no longer have it. Only the Mizukage knows what has happened to it." I was trying to clear my head and prepare to defend myself. I heard snickers all around me. I looked aorund and saw seven more men standing in a circle around me. All were wearing the same black cloak with red clouds. _Ug, horrible fashion sense. Those are horrendous. What is the Rain village thinking? _This was going to be difficult. I had never taken on eight people twice my size. Then I noticed one of the men was him. The mysterious man from around the village. My heart leaped with hope. Then I noticed that something was wrong. His eyes had lost the emotion that had filled them before. He looked at me with cold, emotionless eyes. I felt hurt. All of those things he made me feel had meant nothing. He had just used me.

"You are not here because of your mission against the Rain village," said the man with the orange hair with his monotone voice. My head snapped forward.

"Then why have you kidnapped me?" I asked, annoyance rising up in me.

"You have been brought here because you show great skill and have very unique talents. You will join our group. You will become a part of the Akatsuki."

"That's not even a question. What if I don't want to? What if I want to return to my family?"

"Your family has disowned you and kicked you out of your own home. Do you really want to return and risk being run right back out of town by your own clan?"

I stopped to think about it. Would they run me out of town if I were to return? I thought it was odd that my father left the village instead of just staying with a friend. He had plenty of friends, being so well known and such a great Jonin captain. Uprooting his whole life seemed like such a hassle. I had just assumed that he did not want to be reminded of everything when he saw our family. However, now I was beginning to think twice. Did my clan threaten to harm him if he did not leave? It did sound like something Grandmother would be capable of. He would never tell me if that was the case because he would want to protect me. When he asked me to leave with him, was it because they had threatened to harm me as well? Was he trying to protect me? I remembered Hana's words, _Get out and don't come back! _They had turned my little sister, the person I loved most in this world, against me. I wouldn't put anything past them. Anger flooded through me. _I hate them! They will pay for this! _That was when I made my decision.

"I will join you," I said, my voice void of all emotion. "But you must promise me one thing first."

"And that would be?" the orange haired man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You must promise to keep me away from my clan."

"Why?"

"To keep me from killing them."

I heard a choked cough to my side. I turned and saw the mysterious man with a shocked look on his face. Then his look morphed to look like he wanted to slap me. Whatever, I didn't have time to focus on him. I turned back to the orang haired man, who just started down at me with the same unreadable stare.

"Agreed. Welcome to the Akatsuki."

There were cheers all aorund me and I felt hands patting me on the back. The orange haired man turned and left through a door behind him that I had not seen before now. Someone had probably put a jutsu up so that I couldn't see the door to try to escape through. A man with long blond hair stepped in front of me. His bangs covered one of his eyes, even though his hair was half up. The eye that was showing was a gentle grey color. His eyes were friendly, so I relaxed a little.

"Welcome to the Akatsuki Ariya!" he exclaimed, a big smile lighting up his face. I imagined that face broke a lot of girls' hearts.

"RiRi. Call me RiRi."

"Oh, sorry. Well RiRi, my name is Deidara and this here is Sasori," he pulled one of the men over next to him. His hair was slightly shaggy and was a peculiar pink color. He looked at me with dead eyes. "Hello," he said in almost a whisper. He was creepy, and he seemed really stiff.

"Loosen up Sasori! She's one of us now!" Deidara turned me around to see the other men. "Introduce yourselves guys!"

A man with shoulder length white hair stepped forward, his violet eyes glinting menicingly. He smirked and said, "My name is Hidan! And you, beautiful lady, are downright adorable!" I flushed red as he ruffled my hair. It wasn't my fault I looked like a little kid! I absentmindedly started to rebraid my hair.

"Hidan, leave her alone you dimwit. You don't want to scare her on her first day," came a low voice as a man who's hair and face, besides his eyes, were covered. His eyes were green, but where the eye was supposed to be white, they were red instead. "I am Kakuzu. Do not fear, I will not allow Hidan to continue bothering you." He took Hidan byt the ear, and dragged him out of the room, Hidan cursing the whole way. The foul language was kind of refreshing after the calmness that was constantly forced in my house.

A very tall man with bright blue skin, beady eyes, and gills on his cheekbones came up. "Hey sweetheart, I'm Kisame." I recognized his voice immediantly from when I was being carried in that horrible sack. I gritted my teeth at him. "Hey, hey, no need to get fiesty. I was just doing my job. I'm sure you understand. Gotta follow orders. Anyways, you've already met Itachi." He gestured to the mysterious man.

Ah, so he had a name. Itachi. A handsome name for a handsome man. It had a nice ring to it. Itachi stepped forward and bowed.

"I am sorry for being so aloof. I was just following orders," he said in that sexy baritone. Still upset with him, I ignored him and turned to the last man. He was as tall as Kisame and had a bright orange mask with a spiral design covering his face. There was pitch black hair sticking out from under the mask.

"And who are you?" I asked.

He appeared to be shaking with excitement. "I'M TOBI!" he screamed. The childishness of his voice caught me off guard. "I'm your new partner! Oh Ari, we're going to have so much fun!"

"Don't call me Ari."

"Why not?"

"I hate that name."

"Why?"

"I just do."

"C'mon tell me."

"No Tobi. I just don't like it. Drop it."

"Okee dokee!" He skipped all the way out the room. I stood there staring after him, confused out of my mind. Deidara laughed at the face I was making.

"Ya, he's pretty annoying. Don't let it get you down," he said. "Well, I gotta go work on my art. Itachi will show you to your room." He smiled and waved at me as he left with Sasori. Kisame turned to Itachi and I. "Be nice," he said. I wasn't sure which of us he was talking to. Then he left.

"Follow me," said Itachi in that same emotionless voice. I followed him out the doorway and down a long hallway. I stayed silent as we walked, but Itachi continued to explain things to me along the way.

"The orange haired man is our leader. His name is Pein. Just call him Leader. He's very strict. Do not get on his bad side. You haven't met Konan or Zetsu yet, but you will in the next couple days. You should like Konan. She is the only other woman in the Akatsuki. She's quiet and serious. I won't say anything about Zetsu. I will leave it to be a suprise. We had a hard time finding a new member to replace Orochimaru, but you will be a good adition to the group. Orochimaru was horrible. We are all relieved that he is gone. Well, here we are. This is your room." He opened the door and held it for me. I walked in and was suprised to see my bags on the bed. "You are welcome to decorate your room however you like. You should be comfortable here. The insulation is good. Dinner will be ready in a couple hours. There's a map of the hideout on your bed." I nodded, still not looking at him. "Oh and RiRi," I turned at the familiar use of my nickname. The emotion I remembered was all back in those beautiful onyx eyes as he looked at me. "I meant everything I said. I am glad that you are alright." With that, he turned and left.


	6. Chapter 6

The Love of the Uchiha

Chapter 6

**FOUR YEARS LATER**

I had quickly become well known in the Akatsuki. Everyone adored me and I became the peace keeper, keeping the men from ripping each other's heads off. The nations knew of a member of the Akatsuki that was ruthless and precise, but no one who saw me lived. My nickname had become The Fox throughout the country, since no one knew who I was. All of my missions were a success, despite Tobi's inapptitude. (Seriously, who's idea was it anyway to let him join the Akatsuki?) Pein had kept his promise and had avoided giving me missions near the Hidden Mist, and instead giving them to other teams.

I was in bed, fast asleep, having my normal reaccuring nightmare which consisted of my grandmother trying to kill me, when I was jerked awake from my fellow Akatsuki members yelling, "SUPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" I shot up out of bed, the kunai normally kept under my pillow now in my hand, in a defensive stance. I immediately relaxed. My fellow Akatsuki members were standing around me, all holding presents, with giant smiles on their faces. I looked down at myself and my heart skipped a beat. I jumped back into bed and covered myself with my blanket, concealing the fact that I was only wearing a shirt. The guys started laughing their heads off.

"I told you guys to wait for her to wake up!" scolded Konan. "Let's go! We'll wait for you in the living room." She scowled at the boys as she pushed them out the door.

As the door closed behind her, I slowly got back out of bed. I peeled off my night shirt, which was soaked with sweat from my nightmare. I threw it in the hamper and entered the bathroom that was connected to my bedroom. I started the shower and gave it time to heat up. In the meantime, I looked at myself in the mirror. I had bags under my eyes from my restless night, but besides that, I was happy with my appearance. My face had matured, losing that stubborn baby fat and leaving behind the face of a woman. I had finally grown two inches, making me five feet tall. My body had finally filled out in all the right places; a fact that the men in the Akatsuki had not failed to notice. My long red hair had gained a couple more inches, and it now covered my ass. All in all, I was satisfied with how I had grown. I stuck my hand in the shower, and feeling that the water was warm enough, jumped in after.

The hot shower worked wonders on my stressed body. The pounding water soothed my tense, sore muscles. I let myself relax for a couple minutes, enjoying the hot water flowing over my body, before I began the rigorous task of washing my hair. Pein always complained about my shampoo bill. It wasn't a suprise since it took several handfulls to completely wash my hair. So I tried to go as easy on his wallet as I could, and I only washed my hair twice a week. I had actually found it to be quite healthy for my hair. The natural oils kept it soft and silky. After the chore of washing my hair was complete, I scrubbed the rest of my body and shut off the water. I took my time drying off, not really wanting to be the center of attention today. Birthdays were thrown way overboard in the Akatsuki. I don't really know why. I guess with all the negativity, pain, and death that came with our missions, it was a relief to celebrate something positive. It lifted everyone's spirits. But it was still embarrassing to be put on the spot like that though.

I was jealous of Itachi. He always somehow managed to get missions that lasted through his birthday. That prick. I tried that one year, and Pein yelled at me for half an hour. Fucking Itachi! Itachi. I felt warmth spread through my body as I pictured him in my head. I couldn't deny it; I had fallen head over heels in love with him, though I would never admit it aloud. I had no reason to believe he would ever feel the same way. Hell, he seemed to go out of his way to ignore me at all costs. My first night in the Akatsuki, four years ago, was the most I had ever heard him talk at one time. I sighed. Oh well_._ I knew my path would never involve love when I joined the Akatsuki. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

I dressed in the only dress I owned. It was a simple strapless, baby blue dress that fell to my knees. I only wore it for special occasions like this. I trudged down the hallway, dreading the party I knew was waiting. I opened the living room door, and sure enough, there were balloons everywhere, a banner that read, "Happy 18th Birthday," and a giant chocolate cake on the table. Everyone was snacking on crab wontons (my favorite) and talking. I scowled and went to grab a plate.

"Hey! No! You don't snack until you open your presents!" yelled Hidan from behind me. I sighed. "Fine," I said. I sat down on our giant couch as they all gathered around me.

"How do you want them?" asked Konan.

"Alphabetical order I guess," I shrugged.

Deidara let our a happy squeal and sat down next to me, handing me a brightly wrapped package. "Be careful with it. It's fragile," he warned me. I set the package gently on my lap and removed the wrapping paper. I opened the top and smiled when I saw a gorgeously detailed clay fox. I gingerly lifted it, looking at the gorgeous fur and detailed face.

"Since the villages call you a fox, I thought it would be fitting to make you one of your own," Deidara said happily, smiling at me. I set the figurine back in the box and gently set the box on the coffee tabke. I leaned over and hugged Deidara. "Thank you so much. It's beautiful," I whispered. Deidara had become my brother. He looked out for me, and he was always willing to talk. He squeezed me lightly and released me, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Hidan hopped forward, "My turn," he grinned. I winced inwardly. Hidan's presents were always horribly embarrassing. He gave me a soft, flimsy package. I opened it and I know my face turned as red as my hair. There was a set of sinfully revealing lingerie, cherry red, and exactly my right size. I didn't even want to think about how Hidan knew my bra and underwear sizes. I covered the package immediately, wanting to disappear. I heard a couple awkward chuckles and some strangled coughs. I wasn't stupid. There were only two women in the Akatsuki, and Konan was awfully close to Pein. I knew how most of the men felt about me. Fortunately, most of them had put those feelings aside, and had settled with acting protective of me. Unfortunately, Hidan refused to give up. He had been trying to convince me to sleep with him since my 16th birthday. Now that I was 18, I knew he would be trying even harder. I shivered when I felt his breath on the back of my nck. "Now you'll think of me whenever you open your closet," he breathed into my ear.

"Hidan, leave her alone!" Kakuzu said sharply to Hidan. He pulled him away from me and slapped him upside the head. I mouthed a silent _Thank you_ to him.

I looked around, "Okay, Itachi's turn."

"Um he said he had to go pick up something for the party," said Kisame. My heart dropped . _Of course. _"Okay Kakuzu, it's your turn." I turned back to him. He pulled out a smaller box and handed it to me. I opened it. "Oh Kakuzu, you know I don't use shuriken. I make my own sound shuriken."

"I know, but these are not normal shuriken. Open them."

"Open- what?" I picked one up and was shocked to see hinges on the side. I opened it and inside was a set on senbon. "Senbon?"

"They're poison senbon." I smiled, thinking about how I could fit these into my fighting style. Kakuzu had been trying to teach me a second element for the past year, but I wasn't very good at it. I had a slight affinity to lightning style, and so we had been focusing on that, but I still was having problems with it. Therefore, we were taking a break and were experimenting with other things. "Thanks Kakuzu!" He bowed and sat down at the kitchen table. "Kisame?"

Said blue man came to sit on the opposite side of me from Deidara. He gave me a very long, thin package. I unwrapped it to reveal a brand new, high quality katana with a fire red handle. "I figured it was time for you to get a better one. The one we've been training with is practically falling apart," he said. Kisame had become a father figure to me. He had taken it upon himself to train me to use a katana. Over the past four years, I had become an expert with it, whereas I used to walk out of each training covered in bruises. I still fought mainly with kunai, but I now had a strong backup technique. I always carried a summoning scroll with me that contained my katana. "You need a good one or you're dead," said Kisame. He always gave me fatherly advice when I needed it, and he was very protective of me. "Thank you," I said as I gave him a hug. I pulled out the summoning scroll and switched katanas.

"You boys only care about fighting," Konan said. She hugged me from behind and sat a gift bag on my lap. I stuck my hand in and pulled out a set of hair pins and combs. They were beautiful. They had gorgeous gemstones and intricate designs engraved into them. Konan took a comb with sapphires and put it into a twist she made in my hair. Konan and I had naturally become fast friends. Surrounded by men all the time, we both needed some female time. And so ensued sleepovers, secrets, and nail polish. She was the first person to ever make me really feel like a girl. I loved her. "Thank you. They're wonderful." She kissed the top of my head.

Pein stepped forward. "I did not have time to wrap your present. I apologize. I got you a new set of kunai." He handed me the set. I took it. "Thank you." I never knew what Pein was thinking. He was unreadable. He was strict and scary at times, but he was generally kind.

Sasori sat on the table in front of me and handed me a gift bag. I pulled out its contents, which consisted of a pair of fuzzy blue slippers and a pack of colorful socks. "You were talking about how you wished that you had warm slippers for when winter comes, and I know you like colorful socks," he said quietly. I smiled at him. Our relationship was kind of awkward. He always hung out with Deidara and me, but he didn't talk much. I guess I considered him a brother, but we were a little distant. Even after four years, I still didn't know much about him. "Thank you Sasori," I said warmly.

"Tobi's turn!" yelled my obnoxious teammate as he plopped himself onto my lap. I struggled to push him off, and finally succeeded after a couple second. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand!" he instructed. I rolled my eyes but did as he said. I always felt like I was babysitting Tobi on our missions. He definitely had a knack for getting himself into trouble. I had a very odd feeling about him, but I always just pushed it away. I felt the cold slap of metal drop into my hand. I opened my eyes and saw a keychain with a charm of Tobi's mask. I giggled. "Thank you Tobi." He jumped for joy.

Lastly, Zetsu stepped forward. "Close your eyes and hold out your arm," he commanded. Once again, I follwed his instructions. Itachi had been right that night four years ago. I had met Zetsu the next day, and it was the biggest shock of my life. The plant growing out of his cloak, his two colored face, and his multiple personalities had scared me the whole first year I was in the Akatsuki. I didn't see him much because he didn't like being around the hideout, but I had a feeling that he watched over mine and Tobi's missions. I felt something cold and metal wrap around my wrist. I opened my eyes to find a beautiful ruby bracelet. I smiled and thanked him and he backed up and seemed to disappear.

My stomach growled loudly. Everyone laughed. Deidara pulled me up. "Now you can have snacks. We can have cake in a bit."

"Oh come on!" cried Hidan.

"Hidan, patience is a virtue," said Kakuzu.

I walked to the snacks and started making a plate for myself.

"RiRi?" I turned to see Kisame behind me.

"What's up?"

"Let's train later. Let's try out your new katana."

"Deal." I smiled, excited thinking about how awesome training would be with my new weapon. Kisame gave me a fist bump and went to go tell Kakuzu the training plans. Deidara came up to me, Sasori in tow, and we reminisced about the past year. Even Sasori piped up a couple times. After I finished with my snacks, the cake was cut and we all sat around the table and talked as we enjoyed the cake that I found out was chosen by Pein. Huh! He had a suprisingly good taste in cakes! Well that or he just got lucky. Eventually, as everyone finished, they left to get ready for the day. Since I ate so slow, I was the last one at the table. I knew it was Itachi's day to clean dishes, so I finished and started down the hallway towards my room, my presents in my arms, going to get ready for training.

As I turned a corner, someone grabbed me, making me drop my presents, and pulled me into a room. I stumbled, shocked, and looked around. I immediately recognized Hidan's room from the bright purple walls that matched his eyes and the symbols of Jashin everywhere. In the corner was a stack of torture tools. I started to feel sick to my stomach as I turned to face the masochist.

"You really think those tiny scraps of cloth were my only present? Hell no! You're 18! That's a big birthday! I have a very special present for you."

"I'm not going to like this present am I?"

"You will if you stop being such a prude!"

_Fuck, _I thought. _I need to get out of here. _But Hidan was blocking the door. He started walking towards me. I backed away, but I felt the back of my legs hit the bed. I looked behind me at the maroon blanket that covered the bed and up the wall, looking for an escape. I turned back just as Hidan reached me and pushed me back onto the bed. I kicked up, but he jumped back just in time. _Fuck! _He laughed. "Fiesty are we?" He pushed his leg down to pin mine and quickly bent and grabbed my wrists, pulling them over my head. He was now bent over me, his eyes gazing hungrily over my body.

"Get off me!"

"No, I don't think I will." I tried to push him off of me, but he was much stronger than me, especially since I could feel him draining my chakra. I began to panic as he started pulling up my skirt_. God, how could I be so stupid to get trapped like this? _I struggled as best I could, and tried to scream, but he had guessed I would do that, and just as I drew in air, he covered my mouth, moving to put both of my hands into one of his. "No, none of that now. You can scream all you want later, but not quite yet." I had just heard the clink of chains above my head as the door slammed open.

Suddenly, Hidan was lifted off me. I looked up to see him in the hallway, sliding down the opposite wall. In the doorway was Itachi. He grabbed Hidan by the throat and pushed him up against the wall. He punched him in the face. "You leave her alone! You understand?" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Y-y-yes," Hidan stammered.

"You so much as look at her and I will rip your fucking face off! Now get out of here!" He threw Hidan down the hallway. Hidan stumbled to his feet and took off. Itachi turned to me and took my face in his hands. "Riya, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." But even as I said it, I could feel my body begin to shake uncontrollably. Itachi picked me up as the sobs started, He carried me to his room and gently laid me on his bed. I wasn't ready to talk yet, and he seemed to sense that, so he just continued to hold he as I cried into his shoulder. He began to rub my back soothingly and whispered into my ear, "Shhhh. It's okay. You're safe. Everything is going to be alright. You're safe with me." After what felt like forever, the tears began to cease and I leaned back, sniffing. "I'm sorry for ruining your cloak."

He looked down at his shoulder and gave a small smile. "Oh it's fine. Nothing a good wash won't fix." He looked back up at me, his dark eyes filled with worry. "Are you okay?"

"I think so."

"I promise he won't come near you again. I won't let him." I looked down. "Look at me, Riya." I looked back up, vaguely remembering him call me that before. "You are safe with me."

I gave him a sincere smile. "Thank you." I honestly believed him. I sure felt safe with him.

"Would you like to see your birthday present?"_Oh yeah! _I had forgotten he wasn't at my party!

"Ya!" I said, getting excited.

"Turn around and lift your hair." I did as he said, and he put a necklace around my neck. I looked down to see it was a heart shaped locket. I turned back to him and gave him a confused look. "Open it," he said simply.

I took the locket in my hand and undid that clatch. I opened it and almost started crying again. Inside were two pictures; on the right was a picture of Nira, and on the left was a picture of Hana, both looking just like they did when I left. Feelings of sadness and longing shot through me as I wondered how much my sisters had grown since I left. _Do they miss me? They probably think I'm dead. They would never have guessed I would join the Akatsuki. _I looked back up at Itachi and I was shocked speechless. He was looking at me with such tenderness and affection. He looked down at the locket in my hand. "You fell alseep on the couch last Friday. I don't know if you know, but you talk in your sleep. You were saying their names. You sounded like you were worried about them and I know you miss them." I did remember falling asleep on the couch that night, but I had awoken in my own bed in the morning. I remember wondering how I got there. Had Itachi carried me to bed? If so, I didn't want to ask to avoid embarrassing him.

"Thank you so much. It means the world to me."

He looked back up at me. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your party. You see, I had this specially made, and I couldn't pick it up until today. Also, I thought it would be best if I gave it to you in private. It's a very personal gift."

"Thank you. I love it."

"No need to thank me. Now you should get ready for training." He stood and offered his hand to me and helped me up. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me to my room. He turned to me and took my hand. "Don't be afraid, alright?"

"I won't." I turned and opened my door. I walked into my room, and as I turned to shut the door, something came over me, and I practically yelled, "I love you!" and slammed my door. The last thing I saw was the shocked look on Itachi's face.


	7. Chapter 7

The Love of the Uchiha

Chapter 7

I took my time getting ready for training, dreading the next time I saw Itachi. _God, I'm such a fucking idiot! What did you have to blurt your feelings out for anyways? And right when he was starting to be nice to me! Now he's never going to speak to me again! _After I was dressed in comfortable training gear,I sat on my bed and started braiding my hair. _I completely screwed up any chance of ever being with him! Now he's going to think I'm a total creep! _I tied off the bottom of my braid and twisted it up into a bun, securing it with bobby pins. I dragged my feet as I trudged down the hallway, turned left, then right, and then straight for what felt like forever, on the verge of tears as I neared the door of the training gym, which felt like it was mocking me more and more as I closed the distance. I ever so slowly opened the door and peeked into the gym. I searched the entire gym, and upon seeing that Itachi wasn't there, I straightened up and walked in. I saw Kisame waiting for me in the middle of the gym, practicing some complicated looking techniques with Shark Skin. I walked over to a table against the wall and pulled out my summoning scroll. I unrolled it on the table, bit my thumb to make use of my blood as I spread some on the paper, and performed the correct hand signs to summon my new weapon. I turned and approached Kisame.

"Hey RiRi, you get all of your presents put away?" he asked me as I began my pre-training stretches.

"Yep. Hey, have you seen Itachi?"

"No I haven't. Why?"

"Oh, no reason." _That's odd. I thought he would go and see his teammate when he returned._

"Have you decided on a name for your new katana?

"Name?"

"Well ya! This is your first good quality katana! You're going to have it for a long time, and it's going to give you some good use. It needs a name."

"Huh, I never thought of it that way." I looked down at the beautiful blade in my hands. _I really love the fire red handle, so I should give it a name related to that. _I stared at the handle, thinking hard. _I've got it!_ "Flame!"

"Huh?" Kisame asked, looking up from his stretches.

"Flame! That's its name!"

"Oh, I like it. It matches you. The Fox fights with its Flame. Impressive."

"Thanks! And thank you so much for the awesome gift."

He grinned at me. "Think fast!"

I had just enough time to raise Flame to block Kisame's powerful swing. We both had our own advantages in these duels. I was light and fast; able to think on my feet. He was huge and powerful, and very good at using his impressive muscles to his advantage. I jumped back, and using the sound waves from the clang of our swords to make a small wall behind my right foot to push off of, sprung forward, striking at his legs. He sidestepped me just in time, and swung Shark Skin down towards my body. I used my forward momentum to do a summersault and throw myself out of his range. As I stood up, I turned to see him coming at me, moving too fast for me to dodge. I let out an ear piercing scream, using the powerful sound waves to form a barrier between him and I, which slowed him down just enough to give me time to bring Flame up to meet Shark Skin. I sent chakra through my arms, giving me the strength to push him back across the room. I formed the hand signs to execute the hidden mist jutsu before Kisame could strike again. As the mist rose up around me, I used the cover to create a water clone, and as I saw water creeping over the floorboards towards me, probably from Kisame trying to find me, I split up with my clone. I ran to the wall and ran up, attaching myself to the ceiling. I used my Hikitsugan to see what was happening in the mist. I spotted Kisame. I saw him on one knee with his left hand splayed on the ground, with the water flowing out from him. I was correct in my assumption that he was using the water to find me. I saw my clone creeping through the mist, appearing to be attempting to feel any vibrations that would be caused from any movement Kisame made, and would be carried along the mist to her, immediately alerting her to his postion. It was a technique I used often to find my prey. I watched as they both searched for each other.

I saw the exact moment my clone made the mistake. In her deep concentration, she failed to notice the water creeping up behind her, and a split second after it touched her shoe, Kisame was behind her, Shark Skin at her throat. The mist began to clear and I heard Kisame whisper, "I win." My clone hummed lightly, and I used the distraction to drop down from the ceiling, muffling the sound of impact, efficiently making my drop silent. My clone said, "It would appear so..." By the time she said the last word, I was behind Kisame and had raised Flame to his throat and I finished her sentence, "If that wasn't a clone." He froze.

"What? You beat me?" The disbelief was obvious in his voice.

"And the pupil becomes the master." I lowered Flame from his throat and he turned around to face me.

"I am impressed. For the first time in four years, you have beaten me. How fitting that it is on your birthday. I have no more to teach you." I bowed to him. "You are now a master of the katana."

I straightened up. "Thank you for taking so much time and patience to train me."

"Teaching you has been rewarding. You learn fast. Just know that this was a real life and death situation, I would not have cared if your blade was at my throat, I would have continued. You have to be prepared to kill without hesitation. Or else, they will find a way out and escape and possibly kill you. Well, I need to wash up. Not many people can make me sweat so much." He gave me a small bow and exited the training gym. As he opened the door, Pein came through.

"Oh hello Kisame, thank you for holding the door."

"Oh uh no problem." He bowed deeply and hurried to leave. He ran head first into Itachi in the doorway. I froze, a sick feeling sinking into my stomach.

"Oh hey Itachi, you're back!"

"Yes. How was training?"

"Fantastic. Got beat! Can you believe it? This tiny little woman beating me in my own specialty!"

"That's impressive."

"Oh hell ya! Well I gotta go wash up. See ya later!" He passed Itachi, and left.

It was only then when I noticed Pein was approaching me, with Itachi in tow. I felt my heart beat speed up. _Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap! He told Pein what I said, and now he's going to kill me! _I looked down as Pein stopped in front of me. I felt like my heart was beating so fast that it was going to explode.

"Leader, I am so sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry for what?"

I looked up at him. "Wait, I'm not in trouble?"

He looked confused. "Ummm no? Should you be?"

Relief swept through me. "No. I was just being paranoid. What's up?" I looked behind him at Itachi. The man was staring at his feet, his brow scrunched, appearing to be deep in thought. _I wonder what he's thinking about. Why didn't he tell Pein what I said?_

"I have a mission for you and Itachi. There is a-"

"Wait, what? Hold up a second! Itachi and I? We aren't teammates. Why are you teaming us up?" Itachi looked up at me with a blank look on his face. Oh how I wish he would look at me with that affection again.

"Kisame has some personal things he needs to attend to and-"

Itachi perked up at this. "Wait. Kisame has personal stuff? That doesn't sound like him." It did sound peculiar to me. _Wouldn't he have mentioned something about this to me during our training? He knows what's going on with me. Hell, we all seem to know what's going on with everyone._

Pein turned to face him. "Itachi, it doesn't matter if Kisame is your teammate or not. I will not discuss his personal matters with you, just as I would not discuss your personal matters with him." Itachi's cheeks turned pink, which was so absolutely adorable, I had to hold myself back from running to him and snuggling him to death. But it made me wonder, _what is he hiding? _He looked down and continued inspecting his shoes.

Pein turned back to me. "I have sent Tobi on a solo mission."

I scoffed. "What? Tobi on a solo mission?"

"Yes."

"Let me get this straight. You sent the man who manages to almost screw up every one of our missions TOGETHER on a SOLO mission?"

"Yes."

"Oh well of course! 'Cause that makes PERFECT sense!" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well I guess I don't have to deal with him anymore if he gets himself killed." I shrugged and heard Itachi give a soft chuckle.

Pein scowled at me. "As I was saying, you and Itachi will be meeting a man who has claimed to have information on where we can find the five tail's jinchuuriki. He is potentially volitile, so you need to watch what you do and say around him. He wishes to remain anonymous, so we do not know exactly who he is, be he has sent us word that he will meet you in an inn in a small village in the Land of Water. Itachi knows where to go."

"Yes sir."

"Start packing. You leave early in the morning. Good luck." He gave bows to Itachi and I and left, leaving us alone in the gym. I looked up at Itachi as he looked at me, followed by a painfully awkward silence. I could see him fighting to wipe his face of emotion, only recognizing it because of my experience doing the exact same. I sighed. _I wish he wouldn't do that with me. I wish he felt comfortable enough to tell me his thoughts and feelings._ I searched my head for something to talk about.

"Ummm... Itachi?"

"Yes?"

"I heard from Kisame the other day that you're worried about your brother, Sasuke, since he joined Orochimaru."

He gaze seemed to soften at my interest in his brother. "Yes, I am worried about him. I've worked with Orochimaru before, and I know exactly why he is interested in Sasuke. It hurts that I can't protect him." He seemed relieved at the chance to talk about it.

It was easy to understand his pain. I didn't know what I would do if some creep took Hana and I had no way to help her. "Well, if he's anything like you, he'll be okay."

"I really hope so."

"What was he like as a child?"

His eyes lit up at that question. "He was always so happy and full of energy. He idolized me, and I absolutely adored him. He never let what father said get to him. He loved to train with me."

"It sounds to me like you miss him."

"I really do." His face darkened. "But he'll never forgive me for what I did."

I felt his pain like a ton of bricks hitting me in the chest as I remembered my sisters on that last day. _Will they ever forgive me? _"I'm sure if you explained everything-"

"No. He will never forgive me. I would never forgive me. What I did was unforgivable."

I knew that he killed his entire clan, only allowing his brother to live. I always assumed he had a good reason, and nothing would convince me otherwise. "Look Itachi, no matter what you say, I know you didn't want to do what you did. You had to. I don't know the reason, but I'm sure it was a good one. Getting to know you these past four years has shown me that you are a good man."

"No I'm not." He avoided making eye contact with me.

"Yes you are!" I yelled, startling him. "Look at me!" He did as I said. "What you have done in the past does not reflect who you are in your heart. You are a good man. I know that with all my heart and soul."

He took my cheek in his hand and we stood like that in silence for a couple minutes, staring into each other's eyes, until he dropped his hand and looked away. My cheeks flushed pink as I craved to feel his touch again. My heart sped up as I took a step closer to him. "Itachi?"

He looked back at me, and my cheeks flushed even brighter. "Yes RiRi?"

My heart fluttered as he spoke my nickname in his deep, mesmerizing baritone, but at the same time, it sunk at the fact that he didn't call me by the name only he used, Riya. "Do you... I mean would you... um... ever see yourself... having your own family?"

"You mean like a wife and children?"

"Ya." My breath hitched.

He looked straight into my eyes and said, "Never." My heart crashed to the floor. "I can never love again, no matter how special the person is to me."

My heart broke and shattered into a million little pieces. I looked down to hide my face that I know was showing my devistation. I thought I heard him whisper, "because I could never hurt anyone ever again." followed by an almost silent, "especially you." but I was sure I had imangined it.

"Oh, um, well then you can forget what I said earlier then. It didn't mean anything." My voice was shaking uncontrollably. _I need to get out of here. _"I'll see you later."

I turned and started speed walking to the door.

"RiRi! Wait!"

I ignored him and continued walking until I was out of the training gym. As the door closed behind me, I started running. Straight, right, left, then all the way to my room. When I got to my room, I yanked the door open, ran in, and slammed the door behind me. I leaned my back against my door, and struggled to catch my breath. I locked my door and walked to my bed and laid down, staring up at the ceiling. I closed my eyes and pictured Itachi. I saw his onyx eyes that were windows to his soul at times, and were steel doors locked with chains at other times. I saw his silky long black locks that begged me to run my hands through them. I saw his lips, the lips that spoke sweet things that would melt my heart one second, and stab knives through it a second later. I remembered how he looked at me earlier as I recieved his locket. At that moment, I really thought he felt something for me too. I took the locket from my neck and held it in my hands, feeling the cold metal warm up the longer I held it. I pictured Itachi taking my hands in his larger, soft, warm hands and promising to love me forever. I could feel my heart bleeding as I finally let the tears begin to fall. _Oh what am I thinking? He will never love me back. He told me so. I told him I love him and he threw my heart on the floor and trampled on it. I have no future with him. So why can't I stop thinking about him? _I rolled over and began to sob into my pillow, almost screaming from the pain. _I can't take it! This pain is too much!_

Suddenly, there was a knock at my door. "Who is it?"

Deidara's voice came through the door, "It's me RiRi. Let me in." His voice was filled with worry.

I got out of bed and let him in, locking the door behind him again. He immediately hugged me. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"My room is right next to yours. I can hear pretty much anything going on in here. I heard you and Itachi earlier and I heard you crying. RiRi, tell me everything."

He sat me on my bed and sat down next to me on my right side. I looked up into the honest, loving grey eyes of my brother, and I poured out my heart. I finally opened up and told him everything. I spoke of my childhood. All my hopes and dreams, my parent's expectations, and all of the hard work and sacrifice I put in to reach those expectations and dreams. Then, in just one day, everything flew out the window. I told him the sickening reality that I have never been happier anywhere than I am here, in the Akatsuki, as an S rank criminal. "I mean, what does that say about me? That I am happier being a criminal, with a family of criminals, than being with my own family?" I told him everything that happened with Itachi. How I felt when I first saw him, before I even knew his name. How I had fallen so deeply in love with him over the past four years. Everything that happened today. "I had accepted that I would never fall in love, marry, and have a family when I joined the Akatsuki. I had understood that and gotten over it. But fate is so sick and twisted that I fell in love with a man who will never love me back."

"How do you know he will never love you back?" he asked.

"He told me. It's been four years Dei, and he has never once given me any reason to believe that he feels anything for me besides friendship. Then he says it! Hell, I practically announced to the world that I'm in love with him, and he just throws it back in my face!"

Deidara laid back on my bed, putting his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He appeared to be deep in thought. I laid next to him and propped my body up with my elbow with my head in my hand. I watched him as I played with his long blond hair, which was splayed out around him, with my spare hand. _Deidara really is handsome. Why couldn't I have fallen for him? He's only a year younger than me. Plus, I know he loves me. _Two years ago, Deidara had confessed his undying love for me and begged me to date him. Unfortunately, I could never see myself with him at the time, and I had to break his heart and help him pick up the pieces. As I looked at him, I thought to myself, _I could fall for him I guess. I would be happy with him. Itachi will never love me, so I might as well be happy and spend my life with my sweet, gentle Deidara. _I released the piece of hair I was playing with and laid my hand on his cheek, turning his face to look at me. I knew my emotions must have been showing because his eyes widened as our eyes locked. "What's up Ri-" His words were cut off as my lips met his. For a couple seconds, his lips were still, but when he finally started kissing back, my mind blanked. I had heard people talking about kissing like it was the best thing in the world, but I never believed them, and I definitely never imagined anything like this. I could feel his emotions pouring into me through his lips. I could feel his love for me and I began to melt into his warm lips as they caressed and massaged mine. I never wanted this to end. I forgot my pain and just focused on Deidara.

Suddenly, his lips froze and he pulled away. I opened my eyes to find his piercing grey eyes searching mine. "Dei, what's wrong?"

"RiRi, you know I love you."

"Yes, so please be with me."

"RiRi, I know you don't feel the same way about me."

"Dei, I love you."

"You love me like a brother, not a lover."

"I can change that."

"No RiRi, you need to be with Itachi."

"He'll never love me-"

"You don't know that!" he yelled, shocking me silent. "You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think he's scared. He doesn't know what to do with his emotions, so he hides them, just like you. Seems like you're made for each other. Look RiRi, I've known Itachi longer than you and I know when he's acting odd. He acts different around you."

Something in his tone gave me the impression he knew more than he was telling me. "You're not telling me something."

He froze. "No I'm not." The pink tone rising in his cheeks was unmistakable.

I squinted at him. "Yes you are. What are you hiding?" I pushed him back down and sat on his stomach, putting my hands on his shoulders."Please Dei, tell me. I need to know."

He avoided my probing eyes, turning his head to the side, looking at my pillow. "RiRi, I wanted you to find out yourself."

"Find out what?"

"When you came back from training, Itachi followed you."

It was my turn to freeze. "What?" He looked back at me.

"He followed you! When I hear you slam your door, I came out to check on you. He was standing at your door! He was leaning his head on your door, his hand up, looking like he wanted to knock, but couldn't find it in himself to."

I felt my heart lift just a little. "Then what happened?"

"He noticed I was there. I've never seen him like that before. I thought he was going to cry."

I felt another knife stab through my heart at the thought of my sweet Itachi crying.

"I've never seen him so depressed. I asked him what was wrong. He told me what happened with Hidan, and he told me he didn't know what he would do if you ebery got hurt. He said he just hurt you really bad, and he didn't know what to do. He never wants you to hurt. If that man doesn't love you, I'm a monkey's uncle. I'm willing to bet he loves you even more than I do, and two days ago I would have said that's impossible."

My mind felt numb as I slid off him. _Does he really love me? Could it be true? _My mind couldn't seem to process the thought. Deidara quickly jumped up and helped me lay down and get under the covers. He seemed to see that I was in shock. I closed my eyes as I tried to process everything he told me, and everything that had happened today.

The next time I opened my eyes, it was dark. _Huh, I must have fallen asleep. _I looked at my clock to see that it was midnight. I sat up and looked around my room. At the foot of my bed was my mission pack. I scooted over and looked inside the bag. _That's odd. Someone packed for my mission for me. _A single tear slid down my cheek as an empty loneliness sunk into the pit of my stomach. So, for the first time in three years, I climbed out of bed and snuck into Deidara's room. My first year in the Akatsuki, I did this every night. Deidara knew I had horrible nightmares, so he allowed me to sleep with him. I felt safe with him, and he always made the nightmares go away. As I climbed into his bed, he stirred and turned his head toward me.

"RiRi?" he whispered groggily.

"Ya, it's me."

"Are you okay?"

"Ya, I'm fine. I got lonely."

"Oh, ok." He flipped over and pulled me into his arms, falling asleep immediately. I rested my head on his chest and let his warmth and the steady beat of his heart to lull me to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

The Love of the Uchiha

Chapter 8

_So warm. _I was wrapped in such pleasant warmth. I could feel my father stroking my face, just below my right eye, while my mother was holding me close to her, just like when I was a small child. Happiness spread through me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I snuggled closer into my mother's embrace and smiled happily.

"What are you so adorably happy about?"

Something was wrong. That was not my father's voice. I realized that there was only one person holding me and stroking my face. And yet... that voice was so familiar. As I thought about it, memories rushed through my head and I opened my eyes to see Deidara's warm eyes and smiling face. Saddness began to sink into my heart, but before it could settle, happiness lifted it back up as I smiled back at my little brother. I snuggled closer into his chest, closing my eyes again.

"Good morning silly RiRi. How'd you sleep?" I just let out a squeak in response as he tickled my side. "Time to get up. You have to get ready for your mission."

_Mission? Oh ya huh. My mission. _I let go of him and stretched my limbs, which caused some pretty loud pops. "What time is it?"

"It's five. Itachi told me you have to leave by 5:30."

"Ah ok." I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Deidara lightly ran a finger down my spine, causing me to sqeak again. "Hey!" I yelled, slapping his arm.

"What? Your squeaks are so adorable!" he said, giving me an innocent look.

"UG! And this is why I stopped cuddling with you!" I shot him an evil look. "Go back to sleep." I went into my room to get changed. When I went to close my bedroom door, I saw that Deidara had followed me. "Dei, I have to change!"

"I know RiRi."

"Then why did you follow me?"

"Go change. I'm gonna walk you out."

"Ummm Dei?"

"Ya?"

"You're in your boxers." He looked down at his black boxers with red Akatsuki clouds and rushed back to his room. I chuckled as I closed my door. My nerves grew as I got dressed. I had a bad feeling about this mission. It would be the closest to my village that I had been since I joined the Akatsuki. Then, on top of that, I was going with Itachi, and it would be the first mission I was not in charge of. I definitely had a bad feeling about this mission. I finished dressing and checked my pack. After checking that everything I needed was packed, I slung it on my back and left my room.

Deidara was leaning on the wall opposite of my door, now fully dressed. "You ready?" he asked.

"Yep. Let's go," I replied, shooting him a smile. We walked in silence most of the way, but as we got closer to the exit of the hideout, he stopped me before I could leave.

"RiRi, can you promise me something?"

"Um sure, what's up?"

"Promise me you won't let anything Itachi says hurt you."

"What?"

"He doesn't want to hurt you. I know he doesn't. So if he says something hurtful, he doesn't mean it. So please don't let it get to you."

I gave him a confused look. "Alright, I promise."

"Good. Thank you." He gave me a tight hug and pushed me out the door, closing it behind me. Itachi was already outside, sitting on a large rock by the door, waiting for me. I smiled at him as I approached. He looked suprised, then smiled back.

"Good morning," he said. "I hope you slept well."

"I slept alright. How about you?"

"Not very well, actually. Look, RiRi, I-"

"Nope." I held up my hand. "Stop right there. I already know what you're going to say, and you don't need to. It's okay."

He looked even more suprised. "Oh. Umm... Okay. Well then, we should get going." We began our journey, jumping through the treetops. It would take us a day and a half to reach the inn to meet our target. We traveled in silence until the sun rose high in the sky, and we decided to stop and eat lunch. Itachi sat on a large rock eating his sandwich first, while I sat up in the tree next to him, keeping watch and snacking on an apple.

"Hey Itachi," I called down to him.

He looked up at me. "What's up?"

"Tell me about your parents."

He looked down at his sandwich, fiddling with it. He was silent for a minute before he started talking. "My mother was a very kind and absolutely beautiful woman, inside and out. She didn't have a mean bone in her body. She treated Sasuke and me like we were her whole world. Her smile lit up a room. She was so selfless and caring. I miss her so much..." His voice faded as he said the last sentence.

I smiled at his obvious love for his mother. She sounded like a wonderful woman. "And your father?"

He looked up, straight ahead of him. "My father was the police chief of our village and our clan leader. He was very strict. He always pushed me to work harder, do better. He treated Sasuke like he was a disappointment many times when he didn't measure up to me. It just wasn't fair, you know? I mean, he's five years younger than me, and I was considered the prodigy of the Uchiha clan." He looked down again. "He was always really harsh on Sasuke, but I know he just wanted him to be successful. In the end, I know he did everything he did because he loved us." He glanced up at me, then looked back at his sandwich.

"They sound like wonderful people. I wish I could have met them," I said.

He smiled up at me. "You would have loved my mother, and she would have adored you."

I smiled back at him. "Switch?" I nodded at his rock.

"Sure." He finished his sandwich and jumped into the tree as I dropped down onto the rock and pulled out the rest of my lunch. We were silent for a couple minutes.

"Itachi?"

"Hmmm?"

"Did you have a girlfriend back in your village?"

He seemed to think about it for a moment before answering. "I was engaged to a young woman who was from another prominent clan. It was set up by our parents. I barely knew her. The few times I met her, she seemed nice enough, but we never really connected. We weren't even friends."

"Would you have gone through with the wedding?"

"Probably. I was in line to become our next clan leader, so I was willing to do whatever was best for my clan. Hmmm... If I hadn't left, we would have been married... one year ago tomorrow. God, it's weird how time flies by."

We sat in silence for a couple minutes.

"What about you, RiRi?"

"Ummm no. I never liked any boys, and since I was the middle child, I didn't have to worryabout inheriting my clan. My older sister, Nira, had a boyfriend, I remember. I couldn't stand him. He was so full of himself. He treated my mother like crap, and always went out of his way to be mean to Hana and me."

"What happened?"

"Oh Nira eventually dumped him after mom started complaining. Then my parents started talking about an arranged marriage. I wasn't around to see if they went through with it or not."

Itachi chuckled. "They probably did. Most major clan heirs are married off into arranged marriages right after they come of age." He didn't sound too happy about it. I looked up at him.

"Itachi, did you want to be your clan leader?"

He thought for a long time about that one. "No. I know I could have handled it, but that wasn't what I wanted for my future."

"What did you want for your future?"

"I wanted to be a diplomat between the villages; you know, help bring peace over our whole land. I wanted to fall in love and settle down, become a father. I wanted to be the older brother Sasuke deserved. I wanted to be there to help him train for his Academy exams, and help him achieve his dreams. I wanted us to raise families together, and for us to always be there for each other."

I looked at him with sympathizing eyes. His dreams were beautiful; so simple and happy. We were both victims of the clans' system. Itachi, the first born of the clan leader, and therefore expected to one day lead his clan himself, no matter what he desired. Me, pushed to train as hard as possible and to use my unique talents to make the clan look good. Itachi looked down at me.

"RiRi, did anyone ever ask you if you wanted to become Mizukage?"

I thought about it. "No, actually. I was just told that that was what I was going to do."

We sat there in mutual silence as I finished my lunch, pondering our childhoods. After I had finished my food, we continued our journey.

As night fell, we came upon a small village. We decided to stop for the night. We entered the inn and got a room with two beds. As we walked into our room, I dropped my pack onto a table just inside the door and looked around. "Which bed do you want?" asked Itachi.

"I'll take the one farther from the door," I said.

"Okay." He took off his shoes and flopped onto the bed face first, still in his Akatsuki robe. I started laughing and he turned his face towards me, giving me a silly grin. I continued to chuckle as I walked over to my bed. I took off my shoes and my robe and laid back onto the bed. I closed my eyes and sighed as I let my muscles relax. I heard movement from Itachi's bed, and I opened my eyes to see him standing up, robe off, and in the process of taking off his shirt. I blushed bright red and looked away, but not before I got a good look at his toned abs. My heart was pounding.

"I'm gonna shower first, okay?" he said.

"Oh uh ya, t-that's f-fine," I stuttered.

I could have sworn I heard him chuckle before he closed the bathroom door behind him. I got up and grabbed my book out of my bag. I sat back down on my bed and started reading Lightning Style: From Training to the Battlefield. Kakuzu had lent it to me the last time we trained together to help me understand what came with using lightning style. I was halfway through the first chapter when I heard the bathroom door open. I looked up to see Itachi walking out with just a towel wrapped around his waist. I gave a loud yelp and flipped over, hiding my face in my pillow.

"ITACHI!"

"What? We're both adults."

"SO?"

"You have a male teammate. Are you telling me you've never seen him shirtless?"

"No! I haven't!"

"Well, you have to get used to it. It shouldn't be awkward seeing me without a shirt on. I mean, come on, you're a trained medic ninja!"

I peeked out at him. He was drying his hair with a second towel. It was the first time I had seen him with his hair down. I had a longing urge to feel it. "Itachi?"

He looked over at me, still arms still up, drying his hair. "Yes?"

"Can I brush your hair?"

He dropped the towel he was holding in shock. He bent down to grab it. "I-I mean, um- if it's not weird or... well just... never mind..." I stumbled over my words, looking down as my face flushed bright red in embarrassment.

I was silent for a minute, then Itachi's hand came into my field of vision and pulled my chin up so so I was looking at him. He had changed into a pair of black shorts and his hair was messed up just right to make him even more undeniably sexy. He smiled at me and handed me a brush. Then he turned around and sat on my bed next to me, allowing me full access to his hair. My hands shook as I took his hair in my hands.

His hair was heavenly. It was even softer than I'd imagined. I gently worked through the tangles, careful not to hurt him. I worked my way up from the ends like I did with my own hair. As I got to his scalp, he dropped his head back into my hands and started humming happily. I was shocked. I had never seen him so happy before. _God I love this man. Whenever I think I've finally figured him out, he does something else that blows me away._ I brought a piece of his hair up to my nose. _Mmm... Mango. _My heart swelled with emotion. "May I braid your hair?"

"You can do whatever you want." A shiver ran down my spine at how low his voice had gotten. I brushed his hair flat along his back, straightening it out with my hand. His back felt amazing. The muscles were hard and toned, and his skin was so smooth and velvety to the touch. I separated his hair into three pieces and began braiding. I braided his hair much slower than I ever braided my own, making sure it was perfect. I never wanted to stop feeling his hair, and I was so happy just being so close to him. When I finally got to the end, I felt a little disappointed as he handed me his hairtie and I tied off the bottom of the braid. I backed up and I was shocked when he turned around and hugged me. My face flushed red once again as he held me close. Then I felt my hair fall down out of its bun and his hand loosening the braid. "Go shower," he whispered in my ear. I jumped up as soon as he released me, grabbed my nightshirt out of my bag, and rushed into the bathroom.

Once the door was closed behind me, the hugest smile crept onto my face. I turned on the shower and found it was still warm from Itachi's shower. I undressed and jumped into the shower, humming happily as the warm water flowed over my body. _I can't believe it! He let me brush his hair and he loved it! _I used the shampoo and conditioner that was already in the shower, assuming it was put there by the inn's staff. I found that it smelled like mango, just like Itachi's hair. I used the body wash I had brought myself. _He is just so wonderful and perfect in every way! Maybe, just maybe, he'll make an exception to his rule._ I rinsed my body off and turned off the water. As I dried off, my smile grew as I remembered his hug. _What did it mean? Was it just a thank you or was it something more? Does he feel something for me? _I put on my nightshirt and walked back into the room. Itachi was sitting on my bed, reading my book. He looked up and smiled at me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I was curious about your book, and I didn't think you'd mind if I read it."

"Why are you in my bed?"

His smile turned sly and kind of... flirty. "I'm going to brush your hair," he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He scooted back, making space in front of him. "Sit."

"What?"

"You heard me. Sit."

"My hair gets really tangled and hard to brush through."

"I'll be gentle. Sit."

I cautiously sat in front of him, my back to him. I felt him take my hair and begin working through the tangles. He wasn't kidding, he really was gentle. It felt so good.

I heard a sniff from behind me. "You used my conditioner."

I blanked. "I am so sorry. I thought it was the shampoo and conditioner the inn provided," I said as embarrassment spread through me.

I heard him take a deep breath. "Oh, believe me it's fine. It smells much better on you." I blushed, but I didn't get a chance to feel any more embarrassment because he started brushing again. I leaned my head back to give him easier access to my hair, closing my eyes and enjoying the feeling of his hands in my hair. I smiled.

"Do you like this?" he asked.

"Yes."

"When you were brushing my hair earlier, it felt amazing. It felt like when my mother used to brush my hair as a child."

Happiness flowed through me. Then his voice dropped to a whisper. "I needed to make you feel the same way." My smile disappeared as I opened my eyes. As I processed his words, my face turned bright red, and I hid my face in my hands to hide my embarrassment. _Oh my god, did he really just say that? Damn he's sexy! _I felt like I was going to explode from embarrassment at my own thoughts.

"Riya? Are you okay?"

_Oh now I definitely can't look at him! _That name had such an odd affect on me. It made me breathless and weak in the knees.

"Riya? What's wrong?"

I shook my head and pushed away my embarrassment just enough to lift my head out of my hands and turn to face him. "I'm fine, I promise. It's just... the whole thing about your mother was really sweet."

He gave a look of fake suprise. "That was the comment that made you face turn so red? Not what I said after?"

My face turned an even brighter shade of red and I hid my face in my hands again.

"I'm just joking with you, you silly," he said, his voice gentle. I looked up and towards the door.

"Riya..."

I turned to look at him, suprised at the affection in his voice. His face was right in front of mine. _Oh my god... _He took my chin and turned my face to the side and kissed me on the cheek, his lips lingering for just a moment. "Good night Riya. Sleep well," he whispered in my ear. Then he was gone from my side and climbing into his own bed after turning off the light. I sat in the darkness for a couple minutes, stunned, before I regained the ability to move my muscles. I laid down and hid under the covers, putting my hand to my cheek in wonder. That was how I fell asleep that night.


	9. Chapter 9

Okay, so don't rage about my song choice in this chapter. Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars is a wonderful song that means a lot to me, and helped me through a hard time in my life. I do not own this song, and I chose it because it fit in the story.

The Love of the Uchiha

Chapter 9

The next morning, I awoke feeling well rested. I rolled over and opened my eyes. I was surprised to see Itachi sitting next to me, watching me, playing with a lock of my hair. He was fully dressed and looked ready to leave.

"Good morning Riya," he smiled at me.

"How long have you been sitting there?"

"About 20 minutes."

My jaw dropped in shock. _What? _I recovered enough to ask, "What? Why didn't you wake me?"

"You looked so peaceful and happy. I didn't want to disturb you."

"You should have woken me up."

"Nope." He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead, then as I froze in shock, he got up and began pulling clothes out of my pack for me to wear for the day. I stretched my limbs and climbed out of bed. He handed me the clothes. "Get dressed. I'll be back in a couple minutes." With that, he left the room. I changed into the clothes he picked out, putting my nightshirt back into my pack, then put on my gear. I was ready to leave when Itachi returned.

"Sit. I brought breakfast," he instructed. We sat down at the table and he pulled out a simple breakfast of bagels and orange juice. It was a simple gesture, but it meant a lot to me. We ate in silence. After we finished, we grabbed our belongings and left. When we got downstairs, I filled our canteens in a fountain while Itachi checked us out of the inn.

About half way through the day, we knew we were getting close to our destination, so Itachi directed me to keep watch from up in the trees while he kept watch on the ground. As I jumped from tree to tree, I heard a snap below me. I looked down and saw three dark figures ambush Itachi. Of course, Itachi had sensed they were there, and threw up his giant, orange susano in time to send the figures flying. I jumped down to land on one of the figures who was face first in the grass. I grabbed the short, bright red hair, and turned his head to face me, ready to deliver a killing blow. When I saw his face, however, I froze in place.

"Hiku?"

"RiRi?" His eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here?"

"We were told Itachi Uchiha had been seen in the area, and we were told to take him and his partner, Kisame Hoshigaki, traitor of the Hidden Mist, down."

I pulled him up. "He's not here. I'm in his place."

I heard a thump behind me. "Hiku! Why are you hesitating? Take him down!" I turned to see Kiru standing behind me, ready to attack, but who straightened up when he saw my face.

"Ariya?"

I heard a yell behind him, and I peered around him to see Itachi, blades locked with... _Harou? _Behind them, up in a tree, was Hana. _Hana! _It was instantly obvious that it was her that had yelled.

"Harou! It's RiRi!" she screamed.

"What?" Itachi and Harou broke apart and jumped back.

Itachi looked at me. "You know these people?"

"Yes! This is my old team and my sister!"

He looked up at Hana. "Well you've grown."

She gave him a weird look. "Excuse me?"

"Hana! What are you doing here?" I interrupted.

It was Hiku who answered from behind me. "When you disappeared, she was put on our team as a replacement so we could have a medic ninja."

"RiRi, we thought you were dead." Hana looked and sounded like she was going to start crying as she dropped out of her tree. "When you never showed up to Aunt Seria's house, she sent out a search party, and they never found you. We thought you were dead." Her voice cracked on the last word.

My heart broke at the sight of my little sister so close to tears. I noticed she had pulled her hair back into a braided bun, identical to the way I wore my hair. "Hana..."

"But no! You just left! And joined the Akatsuki!" she screamed suddenly. "And I was left to take your place! Why would you join a group of criminals?"

That pissed me off. "Why do you even care? You told me to leave and never come back! What difference does it make where I went? You hated me!" that shut her up immediately. "And they're more of a family than I ever had! They're all so much more understanding and accepting than our clan! They actually care about me! I'm happier with them!" I could see Itachi out of the corner of my eye, and the surprised look on his face was priceless.

Hana looked down, her shoulders shaking. "Ariya, I'm so sorry for what I said that day. I didn't mean a word of it. I was just so angry because of everything that had happened. When- when you disappeared," she looked up, tears running down her cheeks, "Nira and I were devastated."

"What's happened since I left?"

"Our clan has become very... undesirable. Even though everyone is still happy to fight by our side, nobody would marry into our clan. Grandmother had to fight to find a husband for Nira."

"Who did she marry?"

It was Harou who spoke up this time. "Since no one wanted to marry Nira-" there was a cough behind me from Hiku. Harou shot him a dirty look and continued, "- I agreed to marry her to help take care of her in your and your father's absence, and to keep an eye on your clan."

"WHAT?!" I almost screamed. "You married my sister?! You're ten years older than her!"

"Your grandmother isn't getting any younger and she needed to ensure a stable future for her clan, and I was willing to help."

"And why are you here and not Katara Sensei?"

Kiru spoke up, "Katara Sensei fell in love and got married. She had a baby last month, and she's out on maternity leave."

Surprise rushed through me. "Girl or boy?"

"Boy."

I smiled. Katara Sensei would be a wonderful mother.

Hiku spoke behind me, "You do realize we have to take you back with us, right?"

I turned to face him. A split second later, Itachi was in front of me, between the two of us.

"She's not going anywhere." He turned and grabbed me, throwing me up into the tree above us just as Hiku and Kiru rushed at him from both sides. I turned to see Harou jumping towards me. I back flipped into the next tree and pulled out my favorite pair of kunai. Harou landed next to me, and our blades locked. I screamed and used the sound waves to knock him off balance, sending him plummeting to the forest floor. He flipped and landed on his feet, only to be thrown backwards as Hiku flew into him from Itachi's attack. I jumped through a couple trees, climbing even higher, muffling the sound of my movements. I watched Harou silently as he tried to find me. Suddenly, my ear twitched as I heard a quiet whistling noise approaching from behind. I moved my head just in time to avoid a senbon thrown by Hana, who I had not noticed was sitting in a tree behind me. The senbon embedded itself into the tree I was in, and I smelled paralysis poison coming from it. I jumped to another tree to avoid more incoming senbon. I saw Itachi below me in a taijutsu battle with Kiru, and Hiku behind him, about to barrage him with a powerful earth attack. I dropped down and laid my hands on the ground, using my chakra to pull the water out of the soil, making a wall to deflect Hiku's incoming attack. I heard Itachi yell, "Thanks!" then, right as I began to stand up, his leg swept mine out from under me, causing me to fall face first onto the ground, just in time for Harou's mud hand to miss me.

I was out of breath, so I whispered, "Thank you," and sent the sound waves to Itachi's ear. I pushed myself back up to my feet and blocked Hiku's punch aimed at the back of Itachi's head. I swung his arm around to put him in an arm lock. I pulled his head back to look him in the eyes and put him in a genjutsu, then let him drop to the ground to focus on Harou, who had just thrown a kunai in my direction, aimed toward my thigh. I barely moved away in time, but relief swept through me as it soared past me. A sickening feeling spread through my stomach right after, though, when I heard a thud behind me. That was not the sound of a kunai sinking into a tree. That was the sound of a kunai sinking into flesh.

Time seemed to stop as I turned around. Hana was crouched, a summoning scroll laid out on the ground in front of her. Blood was splattered across the scroll and the ground beneath her. Our eyes locked and then she and I looked down at the same time to look at the kunai sticking out of her chest. I felt like I was running in slow motion. I caught her just before she hit the ground. I was halfway through the hand signs to begin healing when her hand came up and stilled mine. I looked into her eyes. They were filled with tears and she just shook her head. I looked back down at the kunai, and realized that it was embedded in her heart and she was loosing blood at a fatal rate. There was no way I could heal fast enough. She would bleed out long before I could mend the wounded tissue. Tears began streaming down my face as waves of helplessness washed over me. _No! No no no this can't be happening! I can't loose you! _My head dropped as I began to shake with sobs.

"RiRi?"

I looked up into her eyes. "Yes?"

"Could you do something for me?"

I pulled her closer to me. "Anything."

"Will you please sing the lullaby mama used to sing to us when we were little?"

My heart broke. "Of course." And so I sang:

_I remember tears streaming down your face when I said, "I'll never let you go"_

_When all those shadows almost killed your light._

_I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down_

_You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound_

_Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire_

_The war outside our door keeps raging on_

_Hold on to this lullaby_

_Even when music's gone_

_Gone_

_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down_

_You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound._

As I hummed the end, Hana's eyes closed, a sweet smile touching her lips. I laid my forehead on hers, my eyes closed, my tears now running down her cheeks. I grabbed the kunai and pulled it out of her chest, refusing to allow the defiling weapon to remain in her innocent form. I kissed both her eyelids and sat back up. I looked down at the kunai in my hand, my hand now covered in her blood, and hurled it into the nearest tree. Then I completely broke down. I sensed Itachi sit down next to me, and he pulled me into his arms. I hid my face in his chest and screamed from the pain that was ripping through my heart like the kunai that had ripped my sister from me. She was innocent. All she ever wanted was to help people. She was so loving and gentle. She didn't deserve anything she had been put through. Those past four years, all I had wanted was to have her back at my side, to beg her forgiveness and to protect her from the messed up world around us. Now, she would never experience the best parts of life, all because I was too selfish to take one kunai to the thigh.

"This is all my fault. It should have been me. I should be dead, not her. She didn't deserve to die. I do," I cried, my words muffled in Itachi's shirt.

"Shhhh... Don't say that sweetheart. It was an accident. It's not your fault. You didn't know she was behind you. Don't you dare blame yourself," he whispered in my ear, holding me tighter. I cried and cried as memories of Hana flashed through my mind.

_We were in the backyard. I was seven, Hana was four. Nira was out with Grandmother, shopping for the perfect dress for the clan heiress for the upcoming annual clan ball. Hana and I were laying in the grass, looking up at the clouds, tired out after our game of hide and seek._

_"RiRi?" Hana spoke from beside me._

_"Ya?"_

_"Why can't Nira ever play with us?"_

_"Well since she's our big sister, she has a lot of things to do, so she doesn't have time to play with us."_

_She looked over at me as I looked over at her. Her eyes were sad. "But you'll always be here to play with me, right?"_

_"Of course I will. We'll always be together."_

_She smiled._

_Time skipped forward._

_I was twelve, Hana was nine. I was sitting in bed, reading over the next mission my team was being sent on. Hana suddenly threw my door open and ran and threw herself onto my lap, crying._

_"What's wrong little one?" I asked, putting my paper aside and pulling her close._

_"Grandmother hates me!"_

_"No she doesn't"_

_"Yes she does!"_

_"Why do you say that?"_

_"I was training in the backyard, and she came up to me and said I was pathetic and that I'll never live up to you and Nira." She started crying even harder._

_I stroked her hair to calm her. "I'm sorry Hana. You know none of that is true."_

_She looked up at me. "How are you so sure?"_

_"You know Grandmother is cruel. She'll say anything to make you cry. You can't listen to her."_

_"But-"_

_"No. No buts. You're already a better healer at your age than I am now and you're already starting to catch up to Nira. You'll be just fine." She smiled up at me and hugged me tighter._

_"Thank you RiRi. I love you."_

_"I love you too."_

"Riya, sweetheart, we need to go."

Someone was shaking me, pulling me up so I was standing. I looked up and saw Itachi release me. I looked around and saw that Itachi had put Harou and Kiru in a genjutsu and had propped them up, along with Hiku, so they were all sitting against trees. _He incapacitated them to give me time with my sister. _I turned to see him laying a blanket over Hana. He then started breaking some braches off of nearby trees. "Go collect some leaves," he directed.

I did as he said in a daze. After I returned with a small pile, he added it to his ppile, and used a fireball jutsu to light the pile on fire.

"What are you doing!?" I screamed.

"We're close to your old village. They will see the smoke and come to investigate. They will help this team and return them to the village. But we need to get out of here before they come. Come on!" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me, forcing me to run with him.


	10. Chapter 10

The Love of the Uchiha

Chapter 10

The rest of the journey was a blur. The next thing I knew, we were at the village we had been traveling to. We entered the inn. Itachi lead me to the small restaurant area in the lobby. Then he sat me down and ordered me some food.

"I'm not hungry."

"Eat," he commanded.

The waiter came back with the food. "I'm really sorry, but could you please put this in a box?" He gave me a weird look and then walked away again with the food.

"What are you doing?" Itachi demanded.

"I will eat after we meet our informant. He's waiting for us." The waiter came back with my food in a bag and the check. Itachi glared at me as I paid and then stormed off, leading me to the room where our informant was waiting. I shut the door behind us and looked around. The lights were dim in the small room that only had a single bed and table with two chairs. A man wearing an ANBU mask from the village hidden in the rocks was sitting in the chair facing the door, obviously waiting for us. Itachi sat in the seat facing him and I leaned back against the door, watching the man. I thought I saw movement in the far corner of the room out of the corner of my eye, but when I looked closer, there was nothing there. I looked back at the man, still keeping tabs on that corner.

"You're late." His voice was high pitched and scratchy, sounding like a bad voice altering jutsu had been used.

"We apologize. We were caught up by a team of Jonin from the Hidden Mist." Itachi's voice was flat and void of emotion.

My mind began to wonder as the men continued the conversation. _Have they been found yet?Have any of them woken up yet? _Now my entire village would know that I was alive and a rouge ninja, and I would be on the "Most Wanted" list. _I wonder if they'll tell the other villages who the mysterious fox of the Akatsuki is, or if they'll keep that to themselves. _Suddenly, my sister's face flashed in my mind and it took all I had to keep from crying. I absentmindedly put my hand over the locket that was hidden beneath my shirt. _If I had taken that hit, Itachi and I still might have gotten away. And even if they had captured me, Itachi would have broken me out. In both scenerios, Hana would still be alive, and I would only be slightly injured. Why didn't I take that hit? _My mind flew back to the present when the tone of Itachi's voice changed as the men wrapped up their conversation.

"Thank you for your time. When you arrive home, your payment will be there waiting for you," said Itachi. He then stood up and we left the room. As soon as the door was closed, he took my forearm in an iron grip and sped me down the hall towards the nearest exit.

"Itachi, what are you doing?"

"We need to get out of here NOW. He tipped off the authorities."

"He didn't tell you that."

"He didn't need to. He was shocked when we showed up, and wasn't at all suprised when I told him we were attacked. And I'm sure you noticed the man waiting in the corner."

I nodded absentmindedly. _How did I miss all that? _I was usually spot on when it came to my observational skills. How had I let myself become so distracted that I completely missed all the signs of an ambush? _I didn't even see through the shadow jutsu on the man in the corner. What is wrong with me?_

We left the inn and ran into the forest, jumping into the trees to hide ourselves. I let out an almost inaudible hum, using it to detect any attackers around us, alerting Itachi any time I detected one as we ran. He would take care of the threat, and we would keep running. We continued this until well into the night. Finally, when a few hours had passed threat free, we decided it was safe to stop for the night. We jumped down and found a particularly dense patch of trees, and Itachi laid out his sleeping bag. I sat against a tree since I forgot my own sleeping bag. He must have heard me shiver because he looked up at me.

"Riya, come here." My heart fluttered at the use of the nickname as I obeyed. He pulled me down with him and pulled the sleeping bag around both of us, holding me to his chest. As we laid like that, I felt the tears start to fall. I hid my face in his chest and he held me close as I cried myself to sleep.

"Shhh... It's alright, love. Everything is going to be alright. I'm here, love. Just go to sleep," was the last thing I heard before I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up, still in Itachi's arms, while he was still fast asleep. It was still a couple hours before the sun would rise. I shifted in Itachi's arms just enough to pull my locket out and look at the pictures inside, relieved when he didn't wake up. A single tear ran down my cheek as I looked at Hana's face. I promised myself that that would be the last tear I shed over this loss. _Hana would not want me to dwell on her death. She would want me to move on and live a happy life. _I took the picture of her out and put it back in facing backwards. I looked at the picture of Nira and wondered how she was doing. _Is she happy with Harou? _But the thought of Harou filled me with anger. _It's because of him that Hana's dead! _I snapped the locket closed, and felt Itachi jump. I looked up at him. His eyes were wide open and looking around for the sound as he pulled me closer, protectively.

"Sorry, that was me. I didn't mean to wake you," I said.

He looked down at me, his onyx eyes softening. He smiled and set his chin on top of my head, pushing my head back down. "Go back to sleep. It's too early..." he whispered. I closed my eyes and smiled to myself. I inhaled, smelling a hint of his mango shampoo still lingering as well as the strong smell of pine. _God you smell so good. _I felt his breathing slow as he fell back asleep. I felt something tickle my cheek. I looked over to see a lock of his hair had escaped his ponytail. I wiggled my hand back up, careful not to wake him again. I took the piece of hair and held it to my cheek. I stayed like this until the sun completely rose and he woke.

We got up and packed the sleeping bag in silence. I then sat against one of the trees and took out the food from the inn. Itachi sat down next to me as I opened it. I chuckled lightly as I saw chicken fingers and dango. I handed Itachi the dango, knowing it was his favorite, and started nibbling on the chicken fingers, still amused that he'd ordered food off of the kid's menu for me. When we finished eating, we gathered our belongings and continued the trek home. Apparently we had covered more ground then we had thought the day before, and we had made it to the hideout in just a couple hours.

When we got inside, we saw Kisame sitting on the couch, reading a book. Itachi approached him.

"Is Leader here?" asked Itachi.

Kisame looked up. "Ummm... no. I believe he and Konan went out. Not sure why. How did your mission go?"

I froze. Itachi seemed to sense my distress and led me to the couch to sit next to Kisame. Kisame looked confused. "What happened?" At that moment, Deidara and Sasori came out of the kitchen, seeming to be in the middle of a heated argument, though when they saw us, they stopped.

"Hey! RiRi and Itachi are back! How'd the mission go?" asked Deidara as he came to sit on my other side. Sasori, sensing something was off, simply came up behind me and asked, "What's wrong?"

Itachi gave a sigh and finally began to speak. "Our informant tipped off the authorities that we were going to be there. We were attacked by a team of Jonin from the Hidden Mist before we even reached the village. The team was RiRi's old team, and her younger sister."

"What?!" Dei almost yelled. Kisame reached behind me and slapped him upside the head. Itachi continued. "Her sister was killed." Everyone's jaws dropped. I heard Sasori quietly sing, "Happy birthday to you." Itachi glared at him.

"Well did you get the intel you needed?" asked Kisame.

"We did, but it wasn't easy, and we were almost killed," Itachi answered.

Everyone sat in silence for a couple minutes, thinking over what had been said. Kisame used the arm he had put behind me to pull me into a hug. I gladly accepted it and hugged him back.

Deidara stood up. "Itachi, I need to talk to you alone. Can we talk in the kitchen?" Itachi nodded and he patted my knee gently before following Dei into the kitchen. Kisame started rubbing my back and Sasori walked around the couch to sit where Dei had been a moment ago, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, you want to order take out tonight? How about your favorite pizza?" Sasori asked.

I looked over at him, suprised at how kind he was being. "Ya, sure, that sounds great."

Kisame spoke up, "And I'll go out and get your favorite ice cream and I think there are a couple pieces left of your birthday cake. It'll be fun." He smiled at me.

I smiled at both of them. "Thanks you guys."

"BUT I CAN'T!" The three of us almost jumped through the roof at the sound of Itachi's voice yelling from the kitchen. We exchanged suprised looks. The door to the hallway creaked open, and we looked over to see Hidan walking in slowly. Kisame's grip on me tightened and Sasori leaned to hover over me protectively. _Great, seems like everyone knows what happened... _Hidan walked in front of the coffee table, his hands up in surrender.

"I'm sorry, RiRi, I know you don't want to see me, but I heard what happened through the door, and I'm really sorry about your sister." I narrowed my eyes at him and he continued. "And I need to apologize for what I did on your birthday. What I did was disgusting and wrong. I feel horrible. I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I hope you can one day forgive me."

My jaw dropped. _Hidan just apologized to me? Am I dreaming? _I pinched my arm. _Nope. Not dreaming. That hurt. Why is everyone acting so out of character today?_

"Get. Away. From. Her."

The air had shifted behind Hidan and Itachi was standing behind him. Hidan let out a strangled yelp and bolted out of the room.

"Itachi-" he broke me off by grabbing my arm and pulling me up. "What are you-"

"Come with me." His tone was impossible to argue with. He lead me out of the room, and all the way to his room. He threw open the door and sat me on the bed, closing the door behind him.

"Itachi, calm down! I'm fine!"

"I will not calm down! I told him not to come anywhere near you!" He was pacing in front of me now.

"Well, he would have to be near me eventually. We live in the same hideout; use the same kitchen, living room, and training gym. We were bound to bump into each other eventually."

He stopped pacing and glared at me.

"And he was apologizing to me, Itachi."

"So?"

"He feels bad."

"I highly doubt that."

"I believe he truly does."

"I'm not taking that risk."

Now I was getting really mad. "Look, I'm an adult, and a very powerful ninja! I can take care of myself! Why do you even care? Why do you feel the need to constantly protect me?"

He looked me straight in the eyes, his onyx eyes ablaze with passion. He grabbed my collar, forcing me into a standing position. I was just about to start yelling at him when his lips crashed into mine. My mind went completely blank. _Ok, umm ITACHI IS KISSING ME! How do I move the muscles in my face again? _Finally, after what felt like hours, I remembered how to move my body, and began to kiss back. It was heaven. His lips were softer than I had ever imagined. I felt one of his hands cup the back of my neck, as the other grabbed my waist, pulling me closer, so our bodies were pressed together. My body melted and my legs turned to jelly. I heard a moan escape my own lips as I felt his tongue brush my bottom lip just before we broke apart for air. We stared into each other's eyes, trying to catch our breath.

"Because I'm in love with you Riya." His voice was shaking. For the first time in four years, all of his emotions were showing on his face. He had dropped his facade and I could read him like a book. I was beyond shocked. There was no way he was lying. Nobody was that good an actor. My heart filled with love.

"Itachi -"

"Riya," he took my face between his hands. "I can't... I can't pretend anymore. I love you. You mean the world to me. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

_Am I dreaming?_

Itachi chuckled. "No, you're not." _Whoops, I must have said that out loud_. I couldn't move. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say.

"Riya, I understand if you don't feel the same way. I never want to hurt you. It's alright if you don't want to be with me."

That snapped me out of my trance. "NO! I mean... I've been dreaming about this moment for four years. You're the only one I want."

His eyes darkened with a burning passion as he pulled my lips to his once more. He kissed me as though he had just been through a desert and I was the first drink of water he'd had in years. My arms wrapped around his neck without me even telling them to. My whole body was heating up. I bit his bottom lip and smiled against his lips when he let out a moan. _God that was sexy._

We broke apart, out of breath. He stared down into my eyes as his hands moved from my face and took mine from behind his neck. He took a small step back and held our hands between us. He then looked down at our hands as he started playing with my fingers. A slight blush washed over his cheeks and he started getting fidgety. It was adorable.

"Itachi, what's on your mind?" I said with a smile. He glanced up at me, and then back at our hands, fidgeting worse as his blush got darker. After a moment, he took a deep breath and looked back up and into my eyes.

"Ok, I'm just going to come out and say it. To say that I need you is an insult to how I truly feel. The unequivocal emotions you bring out in me, how strongly I feel when I see you, compares to no one else. I thought I could never allow myself to love, but that kiss sealed my fate with you. I'd have you by my side, our hearts entwined, until the day I die, and forever more."

My eyes widened at the beautiful words. I felt my face start burning and I looked down at our hands. I was trying to focus on not hyperventillating, when Itachi put his hand under my chin and tilted my head back up to look him in the eyes. He searched my eyes for a minute, and then he broke out into the most handsome smile I had ever seen and leaned forward and kissed me gently.


End file.
